Camp Half-Blood Oneshots
by EmMarie96
Summary: So, you have an OC, but don't have a story about them? That's what this story is for! PM me your OC, using my submission form on chapter 1, and I'll write a oneshot for your character:) Each chapter is it's own story! All genres: romance, drama, humor, tragedy, etc- each one is different. Also included are canon characters; Percy, Annabeth, Leo, etc:) Submissions still accepted!
1. Introduction

Percy was strolling through camp half-blood early one summer morning. He could hear swords clanging in the arena, the sound of demigods practicing their combat skills. He stopped and listened for a while, and was almost tempted to join the sparring and school everyone, but decided against it.

He walked on, past the row of cabins, which had now grown to more than 3 times its original size. Cabins were filled with campers descended from gods Percy had never even heard of, but he didn't mind. New campers came in almost every day, and he always welcomed the fresh faces warmly. He made friends with them all easily, after all, they were family.

Suddenly, he heard a horn blast from near the big house. Immediately he turned and ran towards Thalia's pine. That sound could mean only one thing: a new demigod; and they were in trouble.

**A/N**

**Hey there! I'm going to write some Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus oneshots. Requests accepted! DO NOT SUBMIT IN THE REVIEWS, PM YOUR STORY TO ME. If you would like to submit a demigod for me a to write about, please fill out the following form and PM it to me. I will try to do every one! Please be as descriptive as possible!**

**Name:**

**Godly parent:**

**Special powers:**

**Mortal family:**

**Personality:**

**History:**

**Roman or Greek?:**

**Friends:**

**Enemies:**

**Signature outfit:**

**Single or in a relationship?:**

**If in a relationship, please submit another form with their boyfriend/girlfriends info:**

**Age:**

**Ethnicity:**

**Height:**

**Weight:**

**Hair color:**

**Eye color:**

**Characters you want them to interact with and how: (e.g. Save Leo Valdez's life, be Piper McLean's boyfriend, fight Jason Grace)**

**Weapon of choice:**

**Have they been at Camp Half-Blood before? If so, how long?:**

**Do you want a tragic story?:**

**Fatal flaw: (optional)**

**Any other information:**

**If you submit in the reviews, you do not get a story, sorry! Don't forget to follow the story if you submit!:)**

**Thanks!:) Please submit, you can submit as many as you like, I'll try to keep up! I update once a week. :)**

** xoxoxoxo,**

** EmMarie**


	2. Ena Echo Collins: Daughter of Nyx

**A/N Ena is pronounced Ee-nah:)**

It was 4 o'clock in the morning, and Ena was rudely awakened.

"Hey!" she mumbled, her eyes gently fluttering open when something large and soft hit her in the stomach. There was some kind of light on somewhere, and she squinted her eyes against it.

"You were glowing again," Connor Stoll, who slept in the bunk across from her, whispered sleepily. "Knock it off."

"Oh, sorry!" she whispered back to him, as she realized that SHE was the source of the light. She shut her eyes and focused for a moment, and her glow faded. "G'night."

"Mmm," Connor grumbled as he rolled over.

Now that Ena was awake, it was hard to go back to sleep. She loved the night, it was the best part of the day for her. She always felt so energized, just by being shrouded in the darkness. Her thoughts wandered, and she tossed and turned in her bed, too restless for sleep. Finally, she signed quietly and threw the covers back. Sliding off her bed, she put her feet into her slippers and stood up.

She quietly crept out the door, careful not to wake any of the Hermes children. She breathed a sigh of relief as she successfully made it outside without disturbing anyone, and took a deep breath of the cool night air.

Ena Echo Collins was not a child of Hermes. She was a daughter of Nyx. However, as she was the only child of Nyx at Camp Half-Blood, they hadn't yet constructed a cabin for her, and she was put in the Hermes cabin, full of mismatched unclaimed demigods. Sometimes it annoyed her, but whenever she brought it up to Annabeth, she would be reassured that they would construct Nyx's cabin soon.

Ena looked up at the stars, her metallic blue eyes shining. She wanted to run and jump around, throw a party, do something! The night was just so magical.

She knew that she wasn't supposed to be out, but she started heading towards the woods anyways.

She hadn't gone far when she tripped over a gnarled tree root. She threw her arms out to catch herself, but instead she felt someone catch her around the waist.

Startled, she twisted out of the stranger's grasp.

"Wh-Who's there?" She called into the darkness. Without waiting for a response, she blinked once and her eyesight cleared. Now she could see through the shadows, and standing in front of her was...

"Nico!" she squealed with delight, rushing forward to throw her arms around him tightly.

He stumbled backwards before regaining his balance. He hesitantly returned the hug before she pulled away, holding him at an arms length.

"You're back!" she exclaimed, looking him over. "I missed you!"

"Uh, I missed you too, Ena," he said, a small smile on his face. "What're you doing out here?"

"Oh, I couldn't sleep. The night just looked too inviting!" she gushed, still holding on to his shoulders. It had been a month since she last saw him, and he seemed to have grown a couple inches. He was now taller than she was.

"What're you doing in the woods?" she questioned.

"You know, it's easier to shadow travel in the woods. There're a lot more shadow doors with all the trees clustered together."

"Oh yeah," she said, nodding. Then she glanced up at the moon peeking out from behind the leaves.

"Wow, it's almost 5 o'clock!" she announced, a little surprised. "You should probably get some rest. Actually, we both should probably get to our cabins before the harpies find us."

A smile tugged at the corner of Nico's mouth.

"You're probably right. I'll walk you back to your cabin."

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When they reached the Hermes cabin, she gave Nico a quick hug before sneaking inside. She passed Connor and Travis, gently snoring, and several other of her "siblings" (for now) without disturbing any of them.

She crawled into bed and wrapped her blankets around her, snuggling in for the few hours of sleep before it was time to really wake up.

Ena had almost drifted off wen she remembered something. She pushed herself into a sitting position and leaned down to the end of the bed, towards the electrical socket on the wall. She reached her index finger out and flipped her nightlight on.

It wasn't just any nightlight. It was the nightlight that Leo Valdez had crafted specially for her. When it was on, it projected a mini-nighttime-atmosphere that only spread over her bed. Ena was fascinated as she watched the stars twinkle, the occasional comet falling by. It made her feel at home, even though she knew she didn't belong with this motley crew. Leo knew how she felt about having to stay with the Hermes kids, so he worked all week on the special nightlight for her. When he presented it to her on her birthday 8 months ago, on December 3rd, he had also asked her to go out with him, to which she enthusiastically said yes. He just made her happy.

Leo Valdez had also made her feel welcome when she arrived at Camp Half Blood in the dead of night, about a year and a half ago. It had been freezing, and the snow was falling hard. She hated snow, and she hated being cold, even though she was a December child. The icy wind bit at her heels, as did the telekhines that had been chasing her. Leo was on his way back from bunker 9, after he had finished his work on a project that kept him up until that hour. The only reason Ena had evaded the two telekhines for so long was because the night had filled her with energy, and she could feel that her goal was near.

Leo had ran up to her and pulled her across the magical boundary. Then, he bravely whirled around to face the telekhines. Ena had screamed when one of the telekhines threw a handful of of fire at Leo, but he just caught it and threw it back. Ena couldn't move; her energy had all but completely disappeared when she crossed the boundary. Now, she was shivering from head to toe, frostbite setting in.

Leo rigged some sort of mini catapult, which sent explosives sailing towards the telekhines. They exploded on contact, and moments later all that was left of the monsters was dust.

Leo then turned towards Ena, and dropped down on his knees on the snow bank next to her.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked softly.

She tried to take a deep breath, but found that she couldn't. She was tired from all the running, and now it was just so cold.

She shivered violently, and Leo looked at her with concern.

"Oh, man, I'm guessing that it's not a good thing for your lips to be that color," Leo remarked, his slight Spanish accent naturally rolling the "r"'s. He put his arm around her shoulders and Ena shuddered at the sudden warmth.

"Well, my name's Leo," he said. "You don't have to talk right now, but I'm going to take you somewhere safe, alright?"

Ena nodded jerkily. Leo put his other arm under her knees and picked her up. Ena snuggled into his chest; he was so warm. Later she learned that he was using his "Child of Hephaestus" fire powers to keep her extra toasty.

He had brought her to the Big House, introduced her to Chiron, and didn't leave her side that whole night. She cuddled up to him on the couch while Chiron explained the new world she had entered, and he kept her warm until her lips returned to their normal color. He held on to her even after all the signs of hypothermia had vanished from her. She had let him.

Now, gazing into her personal solar system, she smiled at the memory. She rolled over and fell into a peaceful sleep.

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The next morning, after hunting down her favorite blue headband from a child of Hemes, (she still couldn't get everyone's names straight), she put on her favorite light blue dress that flowed out at the bottom and was covered with small white flowers, she headed out before the rest of the cabin. If she had waited for then, she would be late, and she liked to be punctual.

At the dining pavilion, they were serving pancakes, which was her favorite. She piled a stack onto her plate and headed to the over-crowded Hermes table. On the way, she passed Mitchell and Lacy, who waved excitedly at her. She wiggled her fingers at them and kept walking.

She plopped her plate down at the Hermes table, but then spotted her two favorite people. She abandoned her pancakes and rushed over to the Hades table, and she wrapped her arms around Nico from behind.

He let out a startled "oomph!" but then realized who it was.

"Good morning Ena," he said monotonously.

"Good morning Nico!" she replied brightly, letting him go. "Did you sleep well?"

"I guess so."

"Great!" she said happily, smoothing down his hair. "Then enjoy your breakfast, smile more, and have a nice day!"

"Got it," Nico nodded, then ran his fingers through his hair, turning it into bedhead again.

Ena beamed at him, then whirled around towards the Hephaestus table.

She reached Leo in two big skips, and his arms were already waiting for her hug. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, and she buried her face in his neck and smiled. When she inhaled, she breathed in his familiar smell. He always smelled like a campfire, which may not sound like a good thing, but it was a comforting and relaxing scent.

"Sleep well?" he asked when he pulled away.

"Yeah. I took a walk last night when I couldn't fall asl-"

"Wait, what?!" he sputtered, cutting her off. "Where did you go?"

"Huh?" she asked, surprised. "I mean, I just took a walk by the Hermes cabin. I didn't go far or anything. What's wrong?"

"Oh, good." Leo sighed. "Uh, I mean, it's just, you shouldn't walk around in the woods anymore."

"Why not?" Ena questioned, confused. "I go like, every night."

"What?! No! Stop doing that!" Leo said, getting flustered. His voice had been a little too loud, and the whole pavilion stared at him for a second. He gave everyone a huge grin and a thumbs up, and they all returned to their food.

"Why?!" Ena demanded.

"Um, I, uh, oh! There's a monster running around in the woods!" he exclaimed, as if the thought had just come to him. "A huge, dangerous monster. A lot of campers have seen it! Isn't that right, Nyssa?" he turned to Nyssa, who was seated beside him, and elbowed her in the ribs.

"Huh? What? Oh, yeah," she said distractedly. "He's right."

Leo turned back to Ena. "Yupp. Big monster in the woods. So don't go roaming around until we take care of it!"

Ena looked at him skeptically.

"You can watch the stars in your nightlight," he suggested.

"Oh, alright," she relented. "But you'd better catch it quickly, I don't like being stuck in that cabin all night long!"

"I know you don't," he said, leaning up to kiss her on the cheek. "Hang in there, you'll be fine.

"I know, I'm trying," she said, leaning down so he could kiss her properly. He did, and she grinned at him. "Well, my pancakes are getting cold," she said, gesturing towards her table. "See you after archery?"

"Count on it."

He squeezed her hand before she skipped off to eat her breakfast. The pancake from the top of her stack was now missing, but she just rolled her eyes and poured more syrup and powdered sugar on the remaining pancakes.

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After breakfast, everyone scattered around the camp to go to their various stations. Ena scanned the crowd for Annabeth, then ran to catch up with her.

"Hey, Annabeth, wait up!" Ena called, rushing after her.

Annabeth turned to face her.

"Oh yeah," she said, pulling something out of her back pocket. "It's Tuesday. Just give it back before dinner, okay?"

"Got it!" Ena smiled, as she caught the cellphone Annabeth tossed to her.

She quickly punched in a Chicago number, and after a few rings her dad picked up,

"Daddy!" she said happily when she heard his voice.

"Ena!" he said, equally as happy. "How're you?"

Ena called her father every Tuesday to check up on him. They had happily lived together until she was 13, and then the monsters had come. If she could manage to make eye contact with a monster, she found she could hypnotize it into leaving them alone. But some monsters wouldn't leave, and Ena didn't understand how her father couldn't see what was happening. Finally, one night, after a particularly vicious attack by a hellhound, she decided to run away. She left her father a note and hopped on a bus. For some reason, the bus went all the way to New York. She got off near Long Island Sound one stormy night, and the rest is history.

She tried to visit her father as often as she could, because they had been close, but she always borrowed Annabeth's phone on Tuesday mornings as part of her routine.

She talked with her father for a while before heading for wilderness survival class.

"Bye daddy, I love you and I miss you!" she said.

"I love and miss you too sweetheart. Be safe." her father said lovingly.

"I will, don't worry. Talk to you later!"

"Bye!"

She hung up the phone and slipped it into the messenger bag she always carried. The bag also held: a candy bar, as she had an incurable sweet-tooth, a book, in case there was time to read during breaks, and extra hair clips and ties, in case hers broke or she needed extras.

She straightened her blue headband and started for the field in which survival class was taught. On the way, she passed the climbing wall, which Leo was scaling with some difficulty. She watched for a moment as he dodged the falling lava, though he didn't really need to, and continued towards the top.

As he reached for a handhold that was just above him, she saw his foot slip and he fell through the air towards the rocks below.

Ena screamed, but the emergency lock clicked on, and Leo abruptly stopped in midair.

Ena ran over to him as the rope slowly lowered him down. As soon as his feet touched the ground, she threw her arms around him.

"Leo!" she scolded, gripping him tightly, relieved that he was okay. "Be careful, you scared me half to death!"

"Lo siento," he apologized quickly, then switched back to English. "I'm sorry, I was just tired and I wasn't paying attention. See, look, I'm alright!" he said, pulling away and spreading his arms out so she could examine him. She saw a streak of dirt on his t-shirt so she brushed that off, but he looked unharmed.

"Fine," she agreed, concluding her critical gaze. "Just don't go up any more today, maybe take a nap or something."

"Yeah, I probably will," Leo said, scrunching up his nose the way Ena found adorable. "I didn't get much sleep last night, I was working on a project."

She smiled and rolled her eyes. "You and your projects."

"I think you'll like it," he beamed.

"What is it?"

"You'll find out later," he said with a wink. She reached out her arms and gave him one last hug.

"Well, I have to get to survival class. I'll see you later!" she said, squeezing him tightly and turning to skip off.

"See you!"

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Annabeth happened to be at survival class that afternoon, so Ena returned her cell phone to her.

After a few more classes, they had lunch, and now Ena was headed to the final activity of the day: archery.

Ena loved archery- it was her favorite camp activity. Her mother, Nyx, had given her a charm bracelet, her favorite magic item. The bracelet turned into a bow, and the charms turned into the quiver and arrows. Ena was an expert shot, and she was often called to the front of the class to give a demonstration. Thalia had approached her several times, but she refused to give up Leo to become a Huntress, even though it was tempting.

She got to class early, and took a seat between Lacy and Mitchell of the Aphrodite cabin, her two best friends.

"Echo!" they greeted her, using her middle name, because they thought it sounded cool. She gave them each a big hug.

"Oh my gods, your outfit is adorable!" Lacy squealed, taking in Ena's color-coordinated blue ensemble.

"And your hair looks fabulous," Mitchell put in. Today, Ena had swept her waist-length straight dark brown hair up into a high ballerina bun. She had secured it with several sparkly blue bobby pins.

"Thanks!" she grinned at them. "How did that thing with Connor go?" she asked the younger girl.

"Well, he totally would've fallen for me," she started conspiratorially. "But I decided that he's not going to be the one for my rite of passage. He's a little too old."

"That's what I told her in the beginning," Mitchell cut in. "But would she listen? No."

"What would you know?" Lacy argued. "Katie Gardner dumped YOU."

"What? No!" Mitchell sputtered. "That was a mutual break up. I was totally ready to end it!"

Ena giggled. "Mitch, you are so full of it."

He shrugged and smoothed his hair down, then fixed the collar of his purple button-down shirt.

"I admit to nothing," he said stubbornly.

Ena rolled her eyes at him and smiled. It was her turn to shoot, so she took her place in front of the targets. Seconds later, 5 arrows protruded from the bullseye. She gave a satisfied grin as the instructor, Michael Yew of the Apollo cabin, applauded her.

"Nice job, Ena," he said approvingly. "You could teach everyone here a thing or two," he said, looking pointedly at the rest of the Aphrodite kids, who were all examining their cuticles.

Lacy and Mitchell gave her double high-fives when she took her seat.

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After campfire that night, she trudged down the hill, tired from the day's activities. She started to feel a little disheartened as she remembered the overcrowded, messy cabin she would have to go back to in a a few minutes.

Suddenly, she felt a pair of warms hands cover her eyes.

"Wha-, Leo?" she asked, trying to pull his hands away.

"Nuh uh," he said, holding his hands firmly. "I've got a surprise for you."

She giggled. "Can't I see where I'm going for it?"

"Nope! Come with me, I'll take you to it. Close your eyes for a moment, okay?"

She shut her eyes and felt his hands come off her face. Then, she felt him tie a bandana over her eyes.

"This way," he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her along. She screamed, "Ahh, no! I can't see!" she stumbled blindly.

Leo lauded softly. "Just trust me, I'll lead you."

She stopped trying to walk on her own and let Leo lead her forward. They walked quite a ways before she could tell they were in the forest.

"Huh? Isn't there a monster in here?" she asked, confused.

Leo chuckled. "Hey, you actually listened to me! Nope, the monster's taken care of."

They walked a little further, and she could hear campers a little ways off.

"Where are we? Are we by the cabins?" she asked.

"Sh, you'll find out soon enough!"

Finally, they stopped walking.

"Alright, I'm going to take your blindfold off, but don't open your eyes until I tell you to, alright?" Leo instructed.

"I won't."

The blindfold came off.

"Alright: one, two, three. Open!"

She did so, and she saw they were standing in the middle of a clearing in the woods a few yards from the campers cabins, and standing directly in front of her so she couldn't see anything else were Nico, Lacy, Mitchell, and Annabeth.

"What's this?" she asked them, confused.

All five of them were grinning at her.

"Well," Annabeth started. "You've been here a while, and Leo brought something to our attention."

"It wasn't just me," Leo interjected.

"Yeah, Mitchell and I helped too!" Lacy informed her.

"Helped with what?" Ena asked, extremely curious now.

"Well, this," Nico said, a rare genuine smile on his face.

They all stepped away from her, and they revealed...

"Oh my gods!" Ena exclaimed, rushing up to the newly constructed cabin that was dotted with stars. "Is this for me? I mean, for my mom?"

"Yes!" Annabeth exclaimed. "We've been working on it all month!"

"I'm shocked you haven't found it already," Mitchell smiled. "Leo told us about your nighttime wanderings."

Ena was so happy she could feel tears forming in her eyes.

"Thank you guys so much! I can't believe this!" she gushed.

"Go look inside!" Nico encouraged her, opening the door for her.

She hopped through the door and gasped as she entered. Overhead was a huge skylight, through which she could see the beautiful night sky.

"You can close it in the morning if it's too bright," Leo said, handing her a remote control.

"Did you make that?" she asked wondrously.

"Yeah," he said, looking proud but a little embarrassed. "I hope you like it."

"Leo!" she exclaimed. "Like it? I love it!"

He smiled as she continued to explore. There was a mini-fridge stocked with her favorite candy, and lots of shelves for her to put her belongings on. There were also 3 bookshelves, filled with all her favorite books. How they knew which ones she liked, she had no idea, but she was glad that they had put then there.

Her new queen sized bed was covered with a swirly star-patterned comforter, and there was a night stand with a pocket to put her bracelet in at night. There were a few more beds in the cabin, just in case she ever got any more siblings.

There was a lot more to explore, but instead he turned towards her friends, her eyes shining.

"Guys, thank you so much! I love you so much!" she said, giving them each a hug.

"You deserve it, Echo," Mitchell said, giving her a tight squeeze.

Lastly, she hugged Leo, and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"I love you," he whispered in her ear.

"I love you too," she said softly. She pulled out of his embrace and looked around at all her friends, and her new cabin. She finally felt like she belonged, that she was a real part of Camp Half-Blood.

She was home.

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**A/N**

**This is for Cassiopeia3, who owns Ena. Thanks for submitting! **

**The demigod submission form can be found on chapter one, I'll keep writing as long as people submit, so please do!**

**Please review and or follow and or favorite!:)**

**Xoxo**

**EmMarie**


	3. Charlotte Davis: Daughter of Hades

Percy reached the pine, slightly out of breath. In the field below him, he could see several other demigods, Travis Stoll, Leo Valdez, and Frank Zhang, among others, fighting in the midst of 3 hellhounds, and a manticore. Percy's brow furrowed in confusion as he sprinted to help. 4 monsters? Usually a new demigod didn't attract this many, unless...

He didn't stop to dwell on the thought. Instead, he uncapped riptide and sprung into action, disintegrating the closest hellhound, which happened to be about to leap onto Travis Stoll.

"Thanks Percy!" Travis called, as he had almost been crushed by the monster. "What took you so long?"

Percy grinned as the battle waged on. Within minutes, all the monsters had either been slain or had run off, and their attentions now turned to the unfamiliar face in the crowd.

She was fairly tall, with curly dark hair and sparkly brown eyes, but she looked uneasy. She was holding two swords, which moments ago Percy saw her use to disintegrate the manticore. She flipped the swords around her ring fingers, and they suddenly shrunk into intricately carved black rings. The demigods all gathered around her and started whispering to each other.

Percy felt a twinge of annoyance and sympathy for the girl. He pushed through the crowd and held out his hand towards her. She shook it apprehensively, but she held Percy's steady gaze.

"Hi there," he said warmly. "I'm Percy, Percy Jackson. What's your name?"

She whispered her response, then seemed to catch herself and cleared her throat. "Charlotte Davis," she answered firmly. "Call me Charlie. Um, where am I? And why were those things following me?"

Half the camp was gathered around now, and Piper suddenly materialized next to Percy.

"Come with me," she said, putting an arm around her shoulders. "We'll go to the big house and explain everything." She put a bit of charmspeak into her voice to reassure her, and it seemed to work. Charlie calmed down, and together they walked off.

As soon as they were out of earshot, the crowd started buzzing. Drew loudly said, "Oh my gods, did you see her dirty outfit? She probably hasn't showered in a week!" Travis said "Did you guys see her eyes? They were gorgeous!" From Leo, "Man, could she use those swords!" Then Jason said, as if thinking out loud, "She must be pretty powerful to have attracted all those monsters."

Percy silently agreed with him. He gave Annabeth a look, and they headed towards the big house together.

Charlie was sitting on the porch with Chiron and Piper, sipping iced tea. Chiron seemed to be explaining something, and Charlie was nodding like she was being lectured.

Chiron looked up at the approaching pair.

"Ah, Percy, Annabeth," he greeted. "We were just finishing the explanations. Care for some tea?"

Percy and Annabeth sat down on a wicker couch and Piper passed them each a mason jar of iced tea. Percy took a sip, then asked Charlie, "So, where are you from?"

"Syracuse," she answered. "I lived in an orphanage there."

"Oh, really?" Percy asked, curious but not wanting to pry.

"Yeah," she answered cautiously. Then she seemed to consider them all and continued, "My parents were killed in a gas explosion at my house when I was 4. Some people found me wandering the streets in my neighborhood and brought me to the orphanage. They don't know how I survived."

Chiron raised his eyebrows but said nothing.

"Huh. You're what, 16?" Annabeth asked.

"Almost."

"And you haven't been claimed?" Annabeth asked, and Charlie shook her head.

"How did you get here by yourself then?"

"Well, a few days ago I had this dream. It was so weird," she started, her eyebrows knitting at the thought. "There was this man, he was like a big dark shadow, and he told me I had to get to Long Island Sound. That dream was so crazy, so, obviously, I ignored it. The next night, I woke up at 3 A.M., and the shadow guy was IN my room. I freaked, but he was so... Powerful, that I couldn't move. He gave me those rings and told me to 'use them well' and he also said I had to make him proud, whatever that meant. Then the room went dark and I was suddenly transported outside the orphanage, with my bags packed and everything, not that I had much. I lost the bags by the way," she informed them when Piper started to ask where they were. She continued, "Then it was like there was a magnet or something, pulling me here. I kept getting attacked by weird things though. I was fine, my swords disintegrated the monsters. But it still kind of freaked me out. Anyway, and here I am now," she finished, dropping her gaze and staring into her glass.

"Well that's unusual, child." Chiron said. "It's a miracle you made it here with no guide. You're very lucky."

Charlie didn't seem to know what to say to that, so she just bit her lip and nodded.

"Look on the bright side!" Piper interjected. "Tonight at campfire, you'll probably be claimed!"

Charlie brightened a bit at that, and the golden spots in her eyes seemed to sparkle even more.

"You probably want to get cleaned up before dinner though," Annabeth stated matter-of-factly. "You'll be staying in the Hermes cabin until we find out who your parent is. Unless of course, it IS Hermes, though from what you've told us, that's highly unlikely. Piper and I'll walk you by there, you can tell us more about yourself." she said, rising from the couch. The three girls waved goodbye to Percy and Chiron, and headed towards the cabins.

Percy clapped his hands together and half smiled. "Looks like she's going to be very interesting," he remarked as the girls disappeared into the distance.

"Indeed."

Everyone from the Hermes cabin had gone to the lake to go swimming, except for Travis, who had been patiently waiting for someone to walk through the door.

But not her.

When he heard the knob turn, his face cracked into an evil grin, but his expression turned into shock as he realized it was the pretty new girl from that morning.

He was surprised, but he shouldn't have been. Of course she would come here, she hadn't been claimed yet, duh! he thought, mentally face-palming himself.

"Wait, go back!" he shouted at her. She froze, but too late. The door had already triggered the trap. A huge water balloon exploded on her.

"What the-" she gasped, soaked.

Travis cringed. And that isn't even the worst of it, he thought.

Suddenly, a waterfall of green slime rained down on her, completely covering her.

She stared at him, shocked. Her intense sparkling brown eyes jolted him out of his surprise, and he leaped off his bed towards her.

"Oh, gods, I'm so sorry!" he apologized, hurriedly attempting to scoop some goop off her.

She kept staring at him.

Wow, she really does have gorgeous eyes, he thought again, I just wish they weren't giving me that murderous look right now.

"I'm so so so sorry," he stammered again. "That was meant for someone else. Anyone else, really. I'm so sorry, oh gods, I'm such an idiot!"

She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it again. She regarded him for a moment, and then started to giggle.

"What-?" Travis asked, confused.

She couldn't answer as she was laughing too hard. Travis was bewildered, but her laugh was so infectious he soon found himself also laughing hysterically.

"Wh-what are we laughing at?" he asked, still giggling with her, a few tears leaking out of his eyes.

"Oh my gosh, just nothing!" she burst out along with more giggles. "It's just, today has been so crazy. And now this! This is just-" she cut herself off with a huffed laugh.

Travis's laughter slowed until he was just grinning from ear to ear.

"Sorry again. It's Charlotte, right?" he asked.

She started to correct him, but then nodded instead.

"Okay Charlotte. Well, I'm Travis Stoll. Don't mix me up with my twin brother Connor, though, I'm much better looking than he is anyway. Um, you probably want a shower now," he said, looking her over and swiping a glob of slime out of her dark curls.

"Well yeah, that'd be awesome."

"The bathroom's back there," he said, throwing his thumb over his shoulder. "There's soap and stuff in there, use whatever you like."

He held out his hand and helped her step out of the pile of goo.

"Thanks, I'll be quick." she said, heading to where he pointed.

When the bathroom door had closed, Travis sighed happily, then walked over to the sink to wash his hands and grab some cleaning supplies.

20 minutes later, just as he finished scrubbing the floor clean, he heard the shower shut off, then Charlotte called him.

"Travis?"

"Yeah?"

"Um, I don't have anything to wear."

Travis stood up and brushed his knees off.

"Hold on!"

He walked over to his dresser and pulled out a clean Camp Half Blood t-shirt, then went over to one of his sister's dressers. He accidentally opened her underwear drawer and shut it quickly. He blushed a little when he realized Charlotte would need other stuff too. He grabbed a small pair of shorts from a different drawer and walked away, leaving it open.

He went over to the back wall and pushed their "Extra Stuff" dresser right in front of the bathroom

door. He laid his shirt and the shorts on top of the dresser and knocked on the door.

Charlotte opened the door a crack, and steam billowed out.

"Here's a shirt and pants, and there're new packs of... Understuff in the drawers," he said, blushing lightly again.

"Oh, thanks!" she said, grabbing the clothes. Travis went over and flopped down on his bed while she changed.

A few minutes later, she came out of the bathroom, fresh faced, her wet hair smelling like oranges.

"Did you find everything you needed?" he asked, sitting up.

"Oh, yeah. Thanks," she said again.

"No problem. So, what do you think about camp?" he asked, wanting to start a conversation.

"It's really nice!" she said, smiling. "I can't wait to see more of it."

"Well, I could give you a tour sometime," he said, hoping she'd take the hint.

She smiled bigger. "I'd like that."

They talked for a while about random things until Travis checked his watch.

"Uh oh! We're late for dinner!" he exclaimed, jumping up. He grabbed her hand and they rushed out the door.

After dinner, everyone walked up the hill to campfire. Well, not quite everyone. Jason kind of hovered and Frank turned into an eagle and flew, which everyone thought was unfair.

Charlie walked with Annabeth and Piper, and the three of them were smiling and laughing like old friends. Travis wasn't far behind, and he smiled when he heard Charlie's laugh again.

Nico and Percy were at the back of the group, talking quietly to one another.

"Percy, I don't know about her," Nico said in a hushed tone. "She's obviously really powerful, but how could she have survived that long in the mortal world? Do you think she's a child of the Big Three?"

"You know what I was wondering?" Percy said, his ADHD getting the best of him. "If Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades are the Big Three, does that make you, me, and Thalia the Little Three?"

Nico rolled his eyes. "Percy-"

"Right, sorry. Back on topic," Percy amended, rubbing the back of his neck. "I dunno. She kind of reminds me of you though. I guess we'll see soon."

Nico shoved his hands in his pockets and trudged on.

Drew, who had apparently been listening, came over and started to walk with them.

"Whatever you guys do, don't trust her," she charmspoke. "She's weird, and she's not even pretty!"

"Go away, Drew." Percy said annoyed, willing himself not to be drawn in by her words.

"Really, you know she's strange. She's probably a spy!" She said, pouting, as she flipped her hair over one shoulder.

Percy never hit girls, his mom had raised him right, but his hands balled into fists.

"Drew, knock it off and go away," he said through gritted teeth. "We give everyone a chance, we all need to trust each other."

"That's an awfully good way to get yourself in trouble," she said haughtily, and stalked off.

Nico frowned. "After that, I think I trust Charlie."

Campfire that night was rowdy and full of energy as usual. Everyone was singing loudly and enthusiastically, so the fire blazed bright and rainbow colors. The highlight of the singalong was when Leo ran up the hill, late, with his hair on fire. Charlie screamed, but when it became evident that nothing was wrong, she started laughing along with everyone else.

The time came for Charlie to introduce herself to the camp.

"And today, as I'm sure you all have heard, a new camper arrived! I'm sure you'll do your best to make her feel welcome," Chiron said, then looked pointedly at the smirking Drew.

"Charlie, would you come up and say a few words?" Chiron asked her.

Charlie hopped off the bench and walked up front to the microphone.

"Um, well, hi everybody!" She started, not sure what to say. "My name's Charlie Davis, and I'm 15 years old. I'm an orphan, uh, except for whoever my godly parents is..." she trailed off.

"Thank you, Charlie." Chiron said. "You may step down now."

Charlie started to hand Chiron the microphone, but a strong gust of wind came from out of nowhere and blew it into the fire. The outline of a man started to form in the flames, which had now inexplicably turned a coal black. A few campers screamed, some drew their weapons, and others slowly backed away.

Except for Charlie. The magnetic feeling she talked about that had led her to Camp Half Blood was back, but this time it was drawing her towards the flames.

"Charlotte!" A voice called from behind her. Probably Travis, as he was the only one who called her that.

She kept walking.

When she reached the edge of the fire pit, the fire formed into a 15 foot tall man, who spoke.

"Child," he addressed her. "I have come to claim you. You followed my instructions, and you are on your way to making me proud. Continue to do so, daughter of Hades." The flaming figure reached out his hand and touched her on the forehead.

Suddenly, Charlie could see random spirits and ghosts, imprints of those who had walked the earth long ago. She looked into the fire and saw not a flaming figure, but a real person, apparently Hades. He had black eyes, and a stern gaze, but she could feel a connection to him that was unexplainable. She nodded, and he withdrew his hand, and the world went back to normal.

Except for one thing.

She was a ghost.

She gasped and felt herself rise a few feet into the air. She raised her hand in front of her face to look at it, but instead, she looked THROUGH it.

Startled, she dropped her had, only to have it accidentally go through the fire. She quickly drew her hand away, but realized the fire hadn't hurt. Tentatively, she reached her hand out again to touch the flames. She felt nothing.

She looked around at the faces of the startled campers. Hades was still there, in flame form, and was watching her expectantly.

Charlie closed her eyes and focused, envisioning her hand and body becoming solid again. She felt herself slowly lower to the ground, and was relieved when he felt her feet touch the earth. When she opened her eyes, she quickly brought her hand up in front of her face. Solid.

She sighed with relief, as did the other campers, and Hades almost smiled in approval.

"Well done, child. Use your gifts well, there will come a time when they are needed."

Charlie nodded, and the fire slowly shrunk back to its original size.

A black helmet symbol blazed brightly above her head. Most of the campers stared at it in shock.

"Well, child," Chiron said, bowing on one knee, as the whole camp did the same, though Drew followed suit reluctantly. "You have just been claimed. All hail Charlotte Davis, daughter of Hades!"

**A/N**

**This oneshot is for Girl-With-The-Fiery-Wings, who owns Charlotte Davis:) I hope you all enjoyed it! Please review and or follow and or favorite! The demigod submission form is still on chapter one, you can submit as many as you like, and I'll do them all! Please submit more!:)**

**Also, you can request a follow-up story for your character if you want more. I may also include your character in future stories! (e.g. Charlie may make an appearance in other oneshots)**

**Xoxoxo**

EmMarie


	4. Author's Update

**A/N**

**Hello dear readers! If you're seeing this message, it means my power has gone out and will be out for a while! (Due to Hurricane Sandy. I emailed this to a friend on the west coast last Sunday, who agreed to post it from my account in case this happened!) Percy would like to apologize on his father's behalf, Poseidon had a bad day:) So this means no update this week, unless my power comes back! (which hopefully, it will!) Sorry for the delay, I hope you'll continue to read!:) If all goes as planned, the next update should be November 7th, maybe sooner!**

Xoxo

**EmMarie**


	5. Hannah Cabell: Daughter of Demeter

It was an average mid-December morning at Camp Half-Blood, and Hannah Cabell was bored. She was sitting on her bed in the Demeter cabin, bouncing her feet up and down, getting more and more restless by the minute.

"What are we doing today?" she burst out to Katie Gardner, her hyperactive personality taking over.

"I dunno," Katie answered flatly. She was preoccupied with a book, and it was a minute before she continued.

"There's not much planned, since there's not a lot of campers to do activities. You know most of them went home for Christmas."

"I wish I could have too, but it's not my fault the monsters won't leave me alone when I go back home!" Hannah pouted, her words running together and coming out in a rush.

"I know," Katie said patiently. "Maybe next year. The same thing happens to Miranda and I, it's not so bad. I promise, it won't be too boring."

Hannah sighed and flopped back down on her bed. Doing nothing was hard for her, she liked to keep busy and do things. Being 12 years old and holed up in a cabin all day was nothing short of torture.

"Cheer up Hannah," Katie spoke up. "In about an hour, we're going to go meet at the Big House. Chiron said everyone has to come."

"I can hardly wait," Hannah mumbled into her pillow.

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"Alright, gather 'round!" Chiron instructed an hour later, as the remainder of the camp wandered near the Big House "Listen up!"

The tumult quieted to a low buzzing.

"That's more like it," Chiron said approvingly. "I'm sure you're all wondering why we haven't had snow in a while, even though it's December and everywhere else has. The reason is, it would interfere with today's activities! Now, things have been quiet around here, what with most of you going home for Christmas, and I'm sure you all are getting restless. So, I've organized a relay competition!"

The crowd let out a cheer, with Hannah cheering especially loud, and Chiron held his hands out to quiet them again.

"Alright, settle down," he instructed. "Now, the rules are quite simple. Three demigods from each cabin will be able to enter. There must be three in a team. And hold on," he added, when the minor demigods protested. "If there are less than three in your cabin, you may form a team with whomever you choose."

Immediately, the campers started to split up. Miranda and Katie Gardner grabbed Hannah by the arms.

"Us three!" They announced to Chiron, dragging Hannah up front.

Once all the teams had formed and were assigned numbers, Hannah sized up their competition. Since most of the campers were gone, hers was the only team that was all from the same cabin, other than the Aphrodite campers. Team 1 consisted of Travis and Connor Stoll and Butch, son of Iris. Team 2 included Nico DiAngelo, Charlotte Davis, and Leo Valdez. Drew, Mitchell, and Lacy made up Team 3, and Team 4 finished off with Will Solace, Michael Yew, and Clarisse la Rue.

"The instructions are as follows," Chiron announced, once everyone was organized. "The relay race starts by the lake, which two of you will have to canoe across. From there, you will head to the strawberry fields, where I have buried a treasure chest with a key inside it. The third person will take the key and run to the climbing wall, where you need to reach the top first. And don't think you can cut and cheat," he added, eyeing the Stoll brothers. "Your ropes are locked, you'll need the key to start climbing." Travis and Connor's faces fell.

Everyone then excitedly followed Chiron to the lake, where they lined up with their respective canoes.

"Two of you will row across, and I need a volunteer from each cabin to run the foot race!" Chiron called out.

Katie and Miranda looked at Hannah.

"You," they both said in unison.

"You're the fastest," Miranda clarified when Hannah started to protest. "I've seen you run. Katie and I'll row quickly, we work well together."

Hannah nodded and went over to where Chiron had gathered volunteers from each group. It appeared that she would be running against Butch, Nico, Drew, and Michael. She grinned, because she was sure she could outrun Drew and Nico, and with some luck she could at least keep up with Butch and Michael.

"Okay," Chiron called to all five teams, who were ready to row off. "On your mark... Get set... Go!"

The teams ran and pushed their canoes into the lake and started rowing furiously.

"Come now," Chiron started leading the remaining 5 through a shortcut to the strawberry fields.

15 minutes later, 4 of the teams landed on the other side of the lake, breathing hard.

"Valdez! Where's team 1?" Chiron called out.

"Uh, their boat kind of... Burned," Leo answered with a mischievous grin. Chiron rolled his eyes.

"Sorry, Michael," he informed the remaining member of team 1. "Your team has been disqualified. Go make sure they're not being attacked by anything in the lake, and make sure they get out safely, will you?"

Michael sighed and jogged towards the lake.

Meanwhile, in the strawberry fields, the remaining teams were scouring the ground, searching for their treasure chests.

"Hold on!" Hannah told Miranda and Katie, who halted their search. "I think I can feel something." She closed her eyes and mentally felt her way through the strawberries, looking for something that felt off to her.

There it was. She could feel something foreign buried shallowly in the dirt about 5 yards away.

"Here," she gestured to her teammates.

They scooped the dirt away in the spot where she pointed, and sure enough there was a box marked with a number "5." They eagerly opened it and pulled out the silver key.

"Go, go!" Katie yelled, thrusting the key into Hannah's hands. Hannah grasped the key tightly and started running for the climbing wall, which was about a mile away.

She could hear shouts behind her, which meant that at least one other team had found their key. She put on an extra burst of speed as she heard pounding footsteps getting closer.

Hannah risked a glance behind her and saw Butch closing in. He may have been a big guy, but for running, it wasn't an advantage. She could see he was already getting tired, and beads of sweat were forming on his face. Good, that meant he wouldn't have very much energy for the climbing wall.

As soon as she reached it, she ran around to the coil of rope labeled "5" and inserted her key into the locking mechanism, which had been securing the rope. She quickly tied some knots around her waist to secure herself and started climbing.

She had barely started up when everyone else caught up with her. They all unlocked their ropes and tied themselves in.

Soon, Nico and Butch were both above her, with Drew not far behind.

However, once they reached the middle of the climbing wall, things got more tricky. There were less handholds to grab, which made it harder for Nico and Hannah, who were the shortest. Pretty soon, she had to leap for every handhold, which was getting dangerous.

Hannah realized that if she kept this up, she wouldn't be able to win. Then, she looked down at the ground far below and had an idea.

She focused on the grass far underneath her and envisioned thick vines creeping up the rocks. Soon enough, the vines did grow, and within moments the vines reached her. But it didn't stop there: it grew until the leafy tendrils extended over the top of the wall, and there it secured itself, growing around the perimeter of the top several times, and finishing off by growing in a square not.

Hannah grinned happily as she heard her teammates cheering her on. She grabbed onto the vine and started climbing on it. The stems of the large leaves growing out of it made for excellent handholds, and pretty soon she saw Butch, who had a shocked expression on his face, as she climbed past him.

In no time, she reached the top, where a big flashing button was waiting. She ran over and pushed it, and confetti exploded over the sides of the climbing wall, raining down on everyone on the ground. A banner unrolled from the top of the wall, where the words "Congratulations Team 5!" emblazoned on it.

Hanna grinned, stepped back onto her vine, then slid down it like a fireman's pole. She was greeted by loud cheers from her cabin, and congratulatory remarks and applause.

She examined the crowd, and saw Travis and Connor laughing, Drew, who had given up on the rock wall and came down a quarter of the way up, pouting on the side, and Leo, who looked impressed.

Hannah had a huge smile on her face, which only widened when Chiron handed the Demeter cabin a trophy. He also gave them the honor of being Captains of the blue team for their next game of capture the flag in January.

Hannah was proud of herself and her team, especially when they went back to their cabin to find the outside decorated in in Christmas lights, and the word 'Winners' spelled out on the roof, courtesy of Travis, Charlie, Leo, and Ena.

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It was a few weeks later, in

early January after everyone had returned from Christmas break, and Hannah was heading to Ancient Greek class.

"Hey, Hannah!" an over-friendly voice called from somewhere behind her.

She turned towards the speaker and saw Michael Yew, head counselor of the Apollo cabin, heading towards her.

She sighed. "What do you guys need now?" she asked exasperatedly.

"What?" Michael said, failing to sound shocked. "Why would you just assume that we need something just because I'm talking to you?"

"Have you ever just came up and talked to me for no reason?" Hannah pointed out quickly.

"Oh. Right."

"Exactly."

"I'll work on that. Anyway, Percy's feeling under the weather. He has the flu or something. We need some black elderbury and snakeroot."

"You need it now?" Hannah asked, checking her watch.

"Well, I guess not. As soon as you have the time," Michael responded.

"I'll grow them after class then."

"But now would be good."

Hannah sighed heavily. "Fine, gimme a minute."

The weather was good today, which helped. It was always harder for Hannah to grow plants when it was cold, but despite the chilly wind the sun was shining brightly.

She closed her eyes for a moment and knelt down in the grass. She concentrated on the earth, and pictured in her mind the plants that she needed.

A few seconds later, sprouts poked through the dirt, as Michael watched, fascinated.

"Woah," he breathed, as the sprouts grew to full size before his eyes.

Hannah opened her eyes.

"There you go," she said, pulling the plants and handing them to him, satisfied with her work.

Michael grinned and took the plants from her.

"Great, thanks so much!" he exclaimed. "I'll make Percy some tea. If we're lucky, maybe he'll be well enough to play capture the flag tonight!"

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Heading for the pavilion for lunch after her morning classes, Hannah spied her least favorite person a hundred yards away, in the sword fighting arena, just as he gained a victory against August Fields, a 15 year old son of Demeter.

As Hannah got closer, she saw Jason Grace looking satisfied as he held the tip of his sword to August's throat. Jason then sheathed his sword and helped him up.

"Nice try," he said sincerely. "Keep working on your defense, and you'll get me in no time!"

August smiled half-heartedly.

"I'll try."

August seemed unharmed, but that didn't stop anger and annoyance from coursing though Hannah. Since the first time she met Jason, about a year ago, right after their big quest to defeat the giants, she had distrusted him immediately. He felt the same way for some reason, although he tried to be neutral and keep the peace between them more often than she did.

It was just odd, after having been at Camp Half-Blood for a while and only knowing about the Greek demigods, to have a whole secret camp for Roman demigods suddenly appear. Jason was different than they were, she sensed it as soon as they locked eyes for the first time. She felt uneasy at that first glance, and she had glared at him.

He had returned the look.

Now, after seeing him beat one of her siblings, she couldn't keep her mouth shut.

"Why are you always here, Jason?" Hannah asked loudly, annoyed. "Shouldn't you be back at your_ Roman _camp?" She put as much contempt as possible into the word 'Roman,' and the distaste came across clearly.

Jason glared. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that my girlfriend and friends are here?"

"Uh, guys?" August tried to intercede, but was ignored.

"No, really. Why do you always hang around here so much?" Hannah persisted. "Are you planning something?"

"Maybe you should be a little more grateful, or are you forgetting I saved your camp?"

"It wasn't just you! Percy and Piper and Leo helped too!"

"Now that you mention it, why do you hang around Leo so much?" Jason asked. "Do you LOVE him?"

Hannah blushed scarlet. She did, in fact, have a crush on Leo, but she tried not to let it show. He was older than she was, and she was too hyper all the time to be serious about a boyfriend anyway.

She countered, "Why are you always 'practice' fighting my friends? Do you want to KILL them?"

"No, it's not my fault your siblings want to practice with me. I'm always ready for a fight!"

"You wanna fight someone? Why not me?" Hanna challenged him, her normally hazel eyes turning blue.

Jason looked her over and scoffed. "Yeah right," he said insultingly. "You wouldn't last 2 minutes." He turned on his heel and tried to walk away, but found he couldn't.

He swiveled his head to face Hannah, and saw that one of her hands was in the air, fingertips together and her palm up. Jason looked down at his feet and saw the reason he couldn't move: Hannah had caused the grass to grow in some sort of net, pinning his feet in place.

"Let's settle this," she glared.

He met her gaze again and sighed. "Alright, short stuff. Let's see what you got. Tonight during capture the flag, I'll meet you on the east side of the river. If, of course, you don't chicken out," he added.

"Wouldn't miss it," she said sweetly, her tone positively venomous. Then she dropped her hand and walked away, "forgetting" that Jason was still trapped.

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Capture the flag was held after lunch, since it would be too dark to play after dinner. The Demeter cabin proudly led the blue team onto the field. The blue team consisted of the Ares, Aphrodite, Hades, Hecate, and Athena cabins. The red team, led by the Apollo cabin, included the demigods from the Nyx, Zeus (technically Jupiter, since it was just Jason), Hypnos, Iris, Hermes, and Poseidon cabins.

The red team took an advantageous spot, on top of Zeus's fist, where they could ward off most attacks. However, Hannah didn't stay behind to guard the flag when the whistle blew.

"I'm going to scout around, maybe find out where the Apollo kids hid their flag," she lied to Miranda, who was also suppose to be keeping an eye on the flag. Miranda started to protest, but Hannah gave her a serious look, which she hoped Miranda would take as a determined face. She did, and she agreed, telling Hannah she would cover for her.

"If you don't find it in 15 minutes, come back!" she instructed, as Hannah skipped towards the east side of the river.

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"Here we are," Jason rolled his eyes as he saw Hannah approaching. He had arrived just moments before she did. "Are you sure, kid?"

Hannah glared at him and drew her sword, Duplices.

"I've been waiting for this for a long time."

"Be careful what you wish for," he warned.

"Be careful who you mess with!" she shot back.

Jason shrugged, drew his sword as well, then flew straight up into the air, above the trees.

Hannah stomped her foot angrily. His flying powers really weren't fair in this case.

Hannah couldn't see where Jason had flown off to. She was turning in circles, on guard, when suddenly, a small flash of purple caught her eye- aha! There he was. He was crouching on one side of a large boulder, waiting for her to wander by so he could strike. Well, Hannah wasn't about to let that happen.

Concentrating hard, she held her hands straight out in front of her, palms down, and slowly raised them above her head, drawing her fingers together.

Instantly, she heard Jason yelp, and saw him fly straight up into the air, putting as much distance between himself and the cacti Hannah had just grown underneath him as possible.

She smirked as he landed on the other side of the arena, his hand clutching his bleeding knee and thigh.

"Need some help?" she called to him tauntingly. He gritted his teeth and glared at her.

"Kid, you're the one who's gonna need help!" he yelled back angrily.

A small crowd of campers had gathered around by now. Jason drew his spear as the Ares kids cheered him on. Hannah quickly lowered her hands and turned her palms towards the ground. As Jason flew towards her in a charge, when he was only 5 feet away, she quickly brought her hands up.

The stinging nettle she had grown shot up too, copying her hands and growing the way Hannah was willing it to. The nettle reached up and poked Jason in the face. He yelled again as the tendrils burned him, and instead of striking Hannah he sailed over her head and rolled on the ground, rubbing his eyes.

"Oh, it's on now, Cabell!" he said, even more fiercely,

"Bring it, Grace!" she shouted hotly at him. She was now enraged and on a roll. Hannah had disliked this jerk since day one, and now she could finally give him what she thought he deserved.

She held Duplices, still in sword form and walked over to where Jason was kneeling, still rubbing his eyes. She tried to hit him with the flat of her blade, but he was quick and saw it coming.

He parried easily, and stood up. Jason was a good 8 inches taller than she was, and much more skilled. He hit her in the stomach with the hilt of his sword and knocked her down. She quickly tapped Duplices twice, and it shrank into knife form. She slashed at Jason's ankle, causing him to step back. She stood and changed her knife back into a sword and charged at Jason again.

Countless blows were exchanged, and pretty soon Hannah realized it was hopeless. Even though she landed a few cuts and stabs, he blocked most of them and landed more blows from the flat of his blade on her. She kept growing vines around Jason's feet, and he would stumble and trip over them, but ultimately he held the advantage. He was stronger, older, more skilled, and it looked like he was angrier, too.

Their swords clashed once more, until Jason twisted Duplices out of her grasp and pushed her down.

They were both breathing heavily, and Jason raised his sword to her throat.

"Are you going to kill me, Jason?" she asked sarcastically. "I know you want to."

"No," Jason glared down at her. "But you shouldn't have challenged me." He poked the tip of his blade a little harder on her throat, and she had to take small breaths to avoid being cut.

"Jason, enough!" a loud voice ordered. To both his and Hannah's surprise, Jason's sword clattered to the ground and skittered a few yards away. Jason whirled around and came face to face with Percy Jackson, who had knocked his sword out of his hand with Riptide. Hannah was surprised to see Percy out of bed, as Michael had deemed him unfit to participate in the game.

Percy looked upset. "Jason, what d'you think you're doing?" he asked angrily, capping his sword and rushing over to Hannah.

"What?" Jason sputtered. "What do you think YOU'RE doing?"

"I'm taking her to the medics!" he responded, offering Hannah his hand and pulling her to her feet. Hannah noticed that his hands were overly warm and a little shaky, so she reached her fingers up to his forehead. He was paler than usual and his skin felt feverish.

"Percy, maybe you should get back to bed," Hannah said quietly. "You don't look so good.

"I'm fine," Percy said distractedly, while Jason spoke over him.

"The little creep did more damage to me than I did to her!"

Percy rounded on him.

"I can't believe you, Jason!" Percy shouted. "Why would you even challenge her?" Jason started to protest, but Percy continued. "I didn't believe it when Piper came and got me, but YOU," Percy jabbed a finger into Jason's chest. "This is a whole new level for you. You could've really hurt her!"

Percy jabbed his finger into Jason's chest again, and Jason slammed his palms into Percy, shoving him backwards into the dirt.

"Guys," Hannah said, trying to alleviate the situation.

They both ignored her. Percy pushed himself to his feet and glared at Jason. Both boys usually got along well, but some code had been breached; some line had been crossed.

The winds picked up, and miniature storms started brewing around both boys, causing most of the demigods who had gathered to duck for cover.

"Stop!" a compelling voice spoke loudly. The winds died down immediately, and the trio turned to face Piper, who was walking towards them.

"Hasn't there been enough fighting today?" she asked the boys irritably. Percy dropped his gaze, but neither he nor Jason had the decency to look ashamed.

"Come with me, Hannah," she said, pulling her up. "Let's go to the Apollo campers, they'll fix you up."

"Pipes, you're taking her side?" Jason asked incredulously. Piper ignored him and continued walking.

"Fine! Be that way!" Jason shouted at their retreating figures. "Just keep her away from me!"

Hannah whirled around. "No, YOU stay away from ME, jerk!" she yelled.

Jason just stood and looked at her with those untrustworthy blue eyes that she hated. Then she watched as he stalked off towards his cabin, and Percy did the same, although he walked a little dazedly. Piper turned her away, and they headed for the Apollo group, who had also witnessed the incident.

Michael kindly bandaged her cuts and scrapes, while making no remarks about the battle.

"Sorry," she mumbled to him.

The son of Apollo just shook his head.

"Eh, at least my team won," he winked at her, and she stuck her tongue out at him.

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During dinner that evening, the schedule was passed out. Hannah checked it to see what her duties were.

"Aww," she groaned loudly. "I've got patrol duty tonight! And it's freezing!"

Katie, Miranda, and August nodded in sympathy.

"You can borrow my jacket," Miranda offered. "It's 100% wool!"

"Thanks," Hannah said dejectedly.

"Cheer up, at least you'll be with... Oh no," Katie checked the list and slowly trailed off, trying to fold the schedule in half.

"What? What! Let me see!" Hannah exclaimed, trying to snatch the paper. A small tussle ensued, with Hannah finally winning. She quickly glanced over the paper again.

"No way!" she protested, seeing the second name. "No way am I going to patrol with Jason!"

The children of Demeter looked even more sympathetic.

"Well, maybe you can smooth things over," August suggested. "Jason really isn't a bad guy."

"Speak for yourself!" Hannah frowned. "Ugh. Does anyone wanna trade with me?"

No one volunteered.

"I don't blame you," she sighed. "I guess I'll see you all later then." She rose from the table and went to report for duty.

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It was breezy and cold outside, and Hannah ruefully thought of her warm cabin while she pulled Miranda's wool jacket tighter around her while she scanned the horizons.

Jason hadn't been a problem so far. They had passed each other several times, and each time it looked like he wanted to say something, but he kept silent. Which was good, Hannah preferred him that way.

She checked her watch. Only another hour, then she could go to bed. She was exhausted from the day's activities; so much had happened.

Suddenly, she heard a shout, and then a cry for help.

Immediately, all her senses went on alert, and she started running towards the source of the voice, which hadn't sounded too far off.

However, she almost stopped running when she saw the scene. Jason was lying on the ground, clutching his shoulder, as a flock of Stymphalian Birds surrounded him.

Hannah felt torn, but she made a decision quickly. She laid her emotions aside and forced herself to see only a comrade in need, instead of an underserving enemy.

She ran as fast as she could, even faster than she had run during the relay race. She reached Jason's side in seconds, drawing her sword.

"Hannah?" Jason said in amazement, still clutching his right shoulder. Now she could see why: there were deep claw marks through it, most likely from the Stymphalian Bird's talons.

She ignored him and slashed at the birds in a wide arc. She quickly realized that she couldn't fend them all off, so she dropped to her knees and said a silent prayer to her mom.

She focused as intently as she could. She wasn't sure she could pull this off, with the weather being so cold, and the type of plant she needed, but her prayer was answered.

A thick, thorny enclosure grew up around her and Jason, effectively keeping them safe and the birds away. She then pulled a whistle out from under her shirt and blew it, hard, alerting the camp of the danger.

Then she sighed heavily and slumped forward, drained from the effort of making the cage. She was surprised when she felt Jason catch her.

"You just saved my life," he said, a little in shock still. His shoulder was still bleeding, so Hannah shook herself out of her stupor and sat up straight, pulling Miranda's jacket off.

"Uh, I hope she won't mind," she said to herself, using Duplices as a knife and tearing the woolen jacket into strips, which she tied around Jason's shoulder to stop the bleeding.

He was still looking at her in wonder.

"You just saved my life," he repeated, and Hannah frowned.

"Even though I've never liked you, and I still don't trust you, I'm pretty sure you would've done the same for me," she admitted reluctantly.

The birds started flying away, now that they couldn't get past the thorny enclosure. Their caws slowly faded away, and they sat there in silence.

"I've been such a jerk!" They both blurted out at once.

They stared at each other and Jason gave a half smile.

"Let me go first," he started.

"Why do you wanna go first? You think you're better than me?" Hannah demanded.

Jason looked taken aback, then Hannah giggled.

"Kidding. Go for it."

Jason gave a full smile. "I just wasn't prepared when you started to dislike me as soon as I got here. I guess I got a little resentful, and I let it get the better of me. I'm really sorry, I hope I didn't hurt you today."

Hannah shrugged and spoke quickly. "I'm fine, Percy made a big deal about nothing. And I'm sorry too. I guess I was a little prejudiced, and I should have given you a chance. I... I was wrong." she slowed down at the last sentence and said it with difficulty.

"So, are we cool now?" Jason asked as they heard campers approaching.

"Yeah. Let's start over."

Hannah held out her hand, and Jason shook it firmly.

She still couldn't help but smirk a little when Jason winced at the pain in his shoulder, but she caught herself quickly.

"Uh, guys?" Hannah called to the campers who had gathered around the thorny enclosure. "I'm too tired to undo this, you'll have to cut us out!"

"No problem," August's voice answered. "Just sit tight and, uh, don't kill each other.

Jason and Hannah gave each other a small smile.

"I think we're good."

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**A/N**

**This chapter is for AceOfSpades053001, who owns Hannah Cabell. I hope you enjoyed it! **

**Everyone, please review, I'm looking for some constructive criticism and I'd like to know what you thought of it! **

**I hope you all enjoyed it, please follow or favorite:)**

**Sorry for the lack of updates, my town got hit by the hurricane! Everyone is fine though, we were just without power for a while:)**

**The demigod submission form can still be found on chapter one! PLEASE DO NOT SUBMIT IN THE REVIEWS, YOU MUST PM IT TO ME FOR ME TO WRITE ONE FOR YOU. I'm still accepting more submission! Submit as many as you like, I will get to them all eventually, I promise:)**

**Have a nice weekend, I'll try to update soon!**

**Xoxo**

**EmMarie**


	6. Jacob Adrian Miles: Son of Ares

**A/N**

**This is for Hell Devil 13, who owns Jacob Adrian Miles. WARNING: This is going to be a tragic story, nothing too bad, but it's kind of sad. The warning is for a character death, nothing explicit. Also, minor cursing and smoking. **

**I'd like to thank everyone who has reviewed, it really means a lot to me!:)**

**I hope you enjoy!:)**

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Jacob Adrian Miles sat at the Ares table for breakfast one morning at Camp Half-Blood. His siblings pushed and shoved their way across the table, reaching for the salt and pepper and snatching napkins off the stack. Jake didn't mind having to fight over silverware every day, even though there was plenty to go around. He felt like he belonged with the roughest, toughest crowd at camp, and it suited him.

Today, however, he finished his breakfast as quickly as he could so he could talk to someone important. He dashed off towards the lake, where the meeting place was.

He saw the familiar figure standing on the docks, her long dark hair cascading down her back. He snuck up behind her and covered her eyes.

"Guess who?" He asked, and she whirled around.

"Jake!" She grinned, leaning up to give him a kiss on the cheek.

Jake had met Katie Gardner three years ago, several months after he had arrived at camp.

Flashback time!

He had been on a run with the rest of the Ares cabin, and the group had run through the garden behind the Demeter cabin. Most of the plants had been flattened, but no one noticed.

However, on the second lap around the camp, they had run through the garden again, and this time, Jake noticed a teenage girl around his age crying and standing in the garden. The Ares cabin ignored her and ran on.

But not Jake.

He slowed his pace, stopping just short of a patch of flowers he didn't know the name of. He looked around at the rest of the garden, and realized why the daughter of Demeter was upset. Most of the garden had been trampled, and many of the plants were uprooted.

Jake took a step towards the girl.

"Hey, uh, I'm really sorry," he apologized, gesturing to the ruined garden.

The girl let out a quiet sob and ran back inside her cabin.

Jake was confused. He could see the rest of his cabin far off, it looked like they were going to run by the beach now. He figured he could catch up with them if he started running now, but he glanced at the Demeter cabin and frowned.

He knelt down in the dirt and picked up a cluster of flowers that had been upturned. As a 14 year old guy, he didn't know very many types of flowers, but he knew the name of this one. His mother had them growing in her garden at home, and he always loved the smell of them.

He scooped away some soil and replanted the gardenia shrub. He gathered up the rest of the gardenias and planted them in a neat row.

Next, he moved on to the big purple flowers, which he planted in a circle. He tossed aside the ones that had snapped, and gathered them into a pile.

After the big purple flowers, he gathered the small white flowers and replanted them in the middle of the circle of purple ones. He had just finished the sunflowers, when he grabbed a rose bush without thinking.

"Damn it," he cursed under his breath, pulling some thorns out of his hand.

He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder, and he looked up to see the girl who had been crying. She was holding a gardening bag, and she smiled at him.

"I hate when that happens," she said, digging around in her bag and pulling out a pair of tweezers. "Hold still."

She reached out and took his hand in hers firmly. She expertly plucked the remaining thorns out of his fingers, then pulled a box of band-aids out of her bag.

"No, I don't need one!" he protested quickly, when he saw that they were sparkly and pink.

"Don't be ridiculous, you don't want your hand to get infected."

"But-"

"No buts," she said, wrapping a few band-aids around his fingers while he pouted.

"Thanks," he said glumly, examining the sparkles that glinted in the sunlight.

"No problem. I'm Katie, by the way. Katie Gardner." She stuck out her hand, and Jacob shook it hesitantly.

"Jake," he said, nodding.

"You planted things differently," she noted.

"Oh, yeah, sorry," Jake apologized. "I didn't really know where the stuff went, so I just put it where I thought it'd grow. Sorry if it's wrong."

"No, not at all!" Katie exclaimed. "This is actually a better arrangement. Since you put the lilies of the valley in the middle of the violets, they won't spread out so much and take over the whole garden. And since they're in the corner, when the sun is at at right angle, they'll get just the right amount of sunlight! How'd you know how to do it like that?"

Jake shrugged. "My mom has a small garden. I figured if I separated all the plants like that, then throughout the day they'd all get the right amount of sunlight, according to the placement of the garden. I'm good at organizing stuff like this, there's a little strategy involved."

Katie smiled at him, and he got a warm feeling in the pit of his stomach that made him smile back.

"Well, thanks for stopping," she told him. "I've seen you around, and I thought you were just like the rest of the Ares kids: moody, mean, and intimidating. I guess I was wrong." She smiled again. "You can go finish your run, you've done enough here."

"Are you sure?" Jake asked. "I mean, it was our fault. I can finish fixing it."

"No, you've been out here for an hour. That's more than enough to make amends," she said sincerely. "Get going, your cabin is probably looking for you."

"I bet they'd never look here."

She laughed, and he stood up and smiled at her.

"See you around, Katie," he said, saluting with two pink-bandaged fingers and heading for the Ares cabin.

Flashback over!

Now, on the docks, they sat silently beside each other, holding hands. The great thing about their relationship was, they didn't always have to be talking; they could just sit in silence and enjoy each other's company.

Then they heard a bell ringing from somewhere in the camp, and Katie sighed.

"Is it time to go back to the rest of the world?" She asked Jake, with her head on his shoulder.

"I guess," he said ruefully. "We better head back, I know you don't like to be late." She nodded and they stood and ran up the hill together.

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When he got to his first class, sword fighting, Jake decided he was going to sit out.

"Miles, get your butt over here!" The instructor, a child of Athena, shouted at him.

Jake eyed him with annoyance. "Dude, I don't need this. I rock at sword fighting already."

"Now!" The instructor ordered.

Jake rolled his eyes and walked out of class.

"Miles!"

He kept walking. As he expected, no one followed him, and he smiled to himself. He decided to take a quick walk, because he liked physical exercise and the weather was nice out. Before he decided what path to take, a familiar satyr came up to him.

"Hey, Mike!" Jake exclaimed, and they did that half-handshake half-hug thing that best guy friends do.

"Jake!" Mike said happily, "How're things goin' man? I haven't seen you in like, a month!"

"Everything's great," Jake grinned.

"Passing all your classes?" Mike asked.

"Yes," Jake answered truthfully.

"Making new friends?'

"Eh."

"Eating your vegetables?"

"Mike, you don't have to look out for me anymore. I'm 17 years old, I can take care of myself," Jake said, half annoyed, half smilingly.

"I know, kid, but that doesn't keep me from thinking of how you were when you first got here."

Jake had met Mike when he was 13 years old. Mike was his satyr protector, and had followed him around the 5 different schools he had been expelled from for fighting. During his last fight, a playground bully that turned out to be a monster, Mike had tossed him a sword and helped him escape. Mike had explained the whole "Greek gods are still alive" concept, and brought him to Camp Half-Blood.

Jake had been thoroughly overwhelmed, and channeled his unease and discomfort through fighting. He had challenged a child of Ares as soon as he got to camp, but Ares had claimed him before anything bad happened. Mike helped him adjust to the new life, and Jake had always looked up to him. Even now, 4 years later, Jake saw Mike as a sort of big brother. Mike felt the same way, and was always trying to look after him, and trying to keep him out of trouble, which was too big a job for anyone.

The two of them talked and caught up for a while, until it was time for lunch.

"Jake, I gotta go check in with the Council, I haven't reported yet," Mike informed him when the bell signaling the end of first period rang. "I'll see you later, okay buddy?"

"Yeah, I have to go to swimming class !" Jake called, as they both turned and went off to the places they needed to be.

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When the time came for cabin inspection later that afternoon, the Ares campers drew straws as to who would have to stay in the cabin while the inspector looked it over.

Of course, Jake lost.

"Jerks,' he muttered after they shoved him into the cabin and ran off, laughing. He let his eyes wander around the room, and saw that it was reasonably clean. He knew their cabin wouldn't be the dirtiest, the Hermes cabin always came in last for inspections. Even so, he grabbed a cigarette from his night stand and lit it, then he walked around the cabin for a last-second cleaning, shoving random clutter under the bunks with his foot.

He quickly dropped his cigarette as he heard the door swing open, and he crushed it under his heel.

"Jake, were you smoking?" Annabeth's sharp voice asked. He whirled around to face her disapproving look, and he returned her frown.

"You're not allowed to smoke in the cabins, it's dangerous!" She scolded, walking over to his nightstand and confiscating the pack of cigarettes.

"Hey, those are mine!" Jake protested, crossing the cabin in a few long strides and holding his hand out for the pack.

Annabeth pulled the pack behind her back, out of his reach. "No way, these are against regulations. I'm going to have to report you."

Jake glared at her. He knew he could look intimidating; mastering that look was one of the first things he had been taught in the Ares cabin.

Annabeth's steely gaze faltered. Jake's sky blue eyes narrowed at her, and he kept his intimidating stance.

"Annabeth?" A voice called. The standoff broke, and both of them turned to face Malcolm, Annabeth's cabin inspection partner.

"I'm done, Percy's cabin was decent, and the Demeter cabin was..." he trailed off, looking back and forth at Jake and Annabeth. "Did I miss something?"

"Yes," Annabeth said, obviously relieved. "Tell Jake he can't smoke in here."

"Uh, dude, you can't smoke in here,' Malcolm repeated, taking a step back as he saw Jake's expression.

"I'll do what I want, nerd!" Jake exclaimed, pushing Malcolm aside. He then reached out and snatched the cigarettes from Annabeth, who gasped.

"Hey!" Malcolm shouted angrily, swatting at Jake's arm.

Jake pulled his arm back and punched Malcolm square on the jaw. Malcolm reeled backwards and slammed into the wall, then slid down it, dazed.

"Jake!" Annabeth yelled at him, while he rubbed his knuckles.

Jake scowled and pushed past her, striding out of the cabin. Of course, he had to run straight into Chiron.

Chiron looked at him disapprovingly. "I think it's time for a talk, son of Ares."

Jake sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets.

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On their long, silent walk to the Big House, Jake had plenty of time to be ashamed of himself. By the time they arrived, he was thoroughly penitent.

"I'm sorry," Jake mumbled, once Chiron had changed into wheelchair form and they were seated on a wicker chairs on the front porch.

Chiron still looked disappointed, and Jake wished he would look angry instead. Jake knew how to deal with angry, but disappointment was a whole new field. Disappointment made him ashamed, and ashamed was confusing.

"Jacob Adrian Miles," Chiron started, folding his hands together on his lap. Jake stiffened at his whole name; it was usually only his mother who called him that- and only when he was in trouble. "There will come a time when you will need to decide between fighting, and acting for the greater good. You need to start taking things in perspective. Now, in retrospect, was punching Malcolm worth it?"

Jake cast his eyes to the floor and slowly shook his head.

"Son, you need to stop acting on your emotions, and think things through. One day, you're going to find yourself in a situation where something more important is at stake than a pack of cigarettes. Do you understand?"

This time, Jake nodded. Chiron looked at him hard, and pulled the said cigarettes out of his pocket and handed them over. Jake shamefully reached out and took them.

"I'm only telling you this because I know you have potential," Chiron stated, and Jake looked up and met his gaze at last. "I see in you a quality that most heroes posses, but rarely emerges. I hope you will become one of those heroes that rise to the occasion, whatever that may be, and emerge as an enduring leader."

Jake saw the hopeful glint in Chiron's eyes, and he swallowed hard. "I- I'm not sure I have that, sir..." He trailed off.

Chiron held his gaze, and something seemed to dawn upon him. "Now, I am sure you do."

"Thanks, sir," Jake said after a long moment. "I'll try."

"I know you will," Chiron said, smiling. "Now, to discuss your punishment..."

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Later that night, after a long negotiation with Chiron, Jake found himself cleaning out the pegasi stables with his best friend, Leo Valdez. Leo had gotten himself into trouble that afternoon too, when a miniature hydra he had built went berserk and attacked the Aphrodite campers, then disappeared into the woods.

"But really, you should have seen Drew running," he recounted to Jake, grinning at the memory.

"I wish I could've been there," Jake chuckled, scooping another load of hay onto the wheelbarrow. "I was too busy getting my ear chewed off."

"See, we need to get you some sort of hobby, like mechanics,' Leo suggested. "Because 'punching people' does not look great on a college application."

"'Being punched' might be on your application if you don't knock it off."

"Alright, alright, it was a joke!" Leo surrendered, still grinning. "But seriously. How about boating?"

"Leo-"

" Pine-car derby?"

"Leo!"

"Fine." Leo sighed, then he checked his watch. "Uh oh! I gotta get going." He tossed his pitchfork aside and ran to pull on his jacket.

" Whoa whoa whoa, where do you think you're going?" Jake asked, gesturing to the unfinished work. "We're not done here!"

"I know, man, can you cover for me?" Leo pleaded.

Jake was suspicious. "Why?"

"Just please, I'll tell you later!"

Jake sighed. "Alright, but you owe me, Valdez!"

Leo grinned. "Thanks, I know." And he dashed off.

Jake rolled his eyes at his retreating figure and returned to the task at hand. _The things I'd do for a friend_, he thought to himself, scooping another shovelful of hay.

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The next morning at breakfast, Jake decided to break the rules and plopped down next to Leo at the Hephaestus table.

"So Leo, where were you last night?" Jake questioned, whilst the Hephaestus kids looked at him nervously, thinking they would all get in trouble.

"Oh, that," Leo gave an embarrassed chuckle. "Well, I knew Ena had a bad day yesterday, so last night I snuck into her cabin and-"

"High five, man!" Jake cut him off.

"What? No, it wasn't like that!" Leo sputtered, blushing. "I'm not- I mean, I wouldn't- it's just- no!"

Leo rolled his eyes as Jake started laughing.

"Anyway, I made a late-night snack for her, and we had a picnic in the woods."

"And how did that work out?"

Leo grinned. "It's more fun than you'd think, bro, you should try it sometime."

Jake shrugged. "Eh, maybe." Though in his head he secretly stowed that idea away, for his and Katie's second dating anniversary today. Then, he caught Chiron's eye, and he was giving him a look that clearly said, "Don't push it."

Jake sighed and ran his fingers through his blonde fauxhawk. "I'll see you later, Leo, gotta go!" and he rose from the table and headed for the suitable Ares table.

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That afternoon, Jake decided to take a page out of Leo's book. He wrote Katie a short note, which was delivered by Hannah Cabell, another child of Demeter, telling her to meet him in the woods behind the cabins at 2 o'clock. After Jake had laid the picnic blanket down and spread it out, he started to unpack their lunch. Just as he pulled out the pitcher of lemonade, Katie came strolling through the woods towards him.

"Hey!" She greeted, coaxing a smile out of him.

"Hey," he said back, standing up and pulling her in for a kiss.

"Happy Anniversary," he said softly, after they broke apart.

"Happy Anniversary," she smiled back.

"How's the garden?"

Immediately her face lit up, and they knelt down on the picnic blanket. "It's growing wonderfully! That idea you had, about switching the daisies and poppies around? Well, now they're both flourishing!" She gushed. "And, I brought you this."

She smiled as she pulled a small bouquet of gardenias out of her bag. He took them and inhaled their sweet smell happily.

At first, it had been weird for him; getting flowers from his girlfriend instead of giving them, but it soon became the unique quality in their relationship. So she brought him flowers, and he wrote her love letters.

Behind his "tough guy" facade, he had a deep sentimental streak. He wore his mom's ring on a necklace around his neck every day because he missed her, even though he insisted to everyone that he had stolen it from a jewelry shop. He also put a lot of thought and time into the letters he wrote to Katie, though he made her promise to hide them from everyone else. Each letter was so sweet, Katie saved them all and kept them in a secret box under her bed.

"Thanks," he said, setting the bouquet down beside him. "I'm glad I could help."

They had just finished eating lunch, and were starting on the chocolate-dipped strawberries, when a familiar satyr burst out of the woods.

"There you are!" Mike exclaimed, rushing towards the pair. "I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"Uh, now isn't the best time, Mike," Jake began, gesturing to the picnic, but he was cut off.

"You heard about Leo's, uh, mini-hydra experiment?" Mike asked hurriedly, and Katie giggled.

"Well, yeah, everyone saw Drew screaming her head off," she smirked.

Mike grinned. "Yeah, that was pretty funny..." He trailed off, then snapped back to reality. "But that's not the point! The point is, Leo made a hydra that's_ too _realistic. _It grew_." He paused for a moment to let that sink in.

"But, how-?" Jake asked.

"Again, not the point! The real point is, patrol duty has been doubled, and we need you two right now!" Mike grabbed each of their hands and pulled them to their feet.

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Jake, Katie, and Mike were assigned to patrol the east side, and with them were Leo and Jason Grace.

"Aw, guys, I'm so sorry!" Leo apologized as soon as the trio arrived for duty. "I had no idea that that combination of Celestial Bronze and Eitr would develop like that! Although, you have to admit, it's pretty sweet," he added, which earned him a whack on the head from Katie.

"We'll sort this out, don't worry," Jake said confidently, formulating a plan. "Alright Katie, you and Jason go patrol that valley, and Leo, Mike, and I will cover the forest area. Any sign of the hydra, Jason, make some lightning and we'll come help you. If we see the hydra, Leo will shoot some fireballs into the air."

"I like this plan!" Leo grinned mischievously, which earned him another whack on the head.

Jake rolled his eyes. "Everyone got that?" The group nodded. "Okay, let's do this!"

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Jake felt a little uneasy after he had divided the group. He didn't quite trust Jason, but since he wanted to avoid rivalries within their team, he decided to pair him with Katie, because she was good at getting along with people.

After about half an hour of patrolling, Jake realized they had strayed from their designated patrol area.

"Hey, guys, this is another group's jurisdiction. We should probably head back to-" Jake was cut off by a brilliant flash of lightning through the air, and his heart sank.

"Come on!" he ordered Leo and Mike, who followed without hesitation. Jake silently cursed himself for letting the group stray; it would take them longer to get to Jason and Katie.

They trio ran as quickly as they could, Mike bounding more than running.

When they got over the hill, in the valley below, it was not a pretty sight. Jason was barely keeping a massive metal 20-foot-tall 9-headed hydra at bay, while Katie was lying on the ground behind him.

"No!" Jake shouted, as he charged down the hill. Before he reached them, he watched as the hydra stepped towards the pair and one of its heads snapped at Katie. Jason quickly slashed his sword at the offending head and cut it off cleanly. Almost immediately, two new heads started growing and Jake gritted his teeth.

As soon as Jake reached the scene, he twisted his matching rings around his fingers with his thumbs, and instantly they grew into perfectly balanced Celestial Bronze dual swords. He dove at the hydra and plunged one sword into its metal thigh, and the hydra let out a roar as a stream of fire issued from it's mouth.

"Leo!" Jake yelled exasperatedly. "It can breath fire, too?!"

Leo shrugged. "I'm just that good."

Jake sighed and continued the battle. After receiving a few fireballs in the face from Leo, and a few more cuts and jabs from Jake and Jason, the hydra hissed and retreated into the woods.

"Katie!" Jake exclaimed, turning to kneel by her side. She had a large gash on her forehead, and was unconscious.

"Mike, go get help!" Jake instructed, and the satyr bounded off. Jake then rounded on Jason, who was also wounded by the hydra- a deep gash across his left arm.

"What happened?!" he roared, causing Jason to flinch.

"I was distracted by the heads, and when it spun around Katie got hit by the tail!" he stammered.

"I saw you fighting it, don't you know not to cut off the heads?" Jake demanded. "Two grow back!"

Jason's confidence returned, and he straightened to his full height, which was still a good inch shorter than Jake. "It was metal, I didn't think it'd be that realistic! And little details like that slip your mind when you're trying to save an unconscious person from being chomped!"

Jake breathed hard and his hands balled into fists. Then Chiron's words came back to him. What they needed was leadership, and Jake resolved himself to be the one who brought the group together. His hands unclenched. But then Jake took another look at Katie, and his negative emotions returned.

Jake could see Mike coming in the distance, and with him were several kids from the Apollo cabin. He decided what he had to do.

"I'm going after it," he announced, turning to the woods.

"What?! That's crazy, man, don't do it!" Leo protested, and tried to hold him back by grabbing onto his arm.

"Don't try and stop me, Leo, I'm going," Jake said determinedly, shrugging Leo off and running into the forest.

He heard shouts behind him and Mike calling his name, but he kept going. Jake couldn't stand the thought of the hydra hurting his girlfriend and getting away with it.

Pretty soon, Jake was deep in the woods, with no sign of the beast. His senses were all on alert, because something felt wrong, and he cursed himself for not thinking things through.

Suddenly, a loud noise came from behind him and he whirled around to see a torrent of fire streaming towards him. He tucked and rolled away from the heat, and rose in a crouching stance. The hydra slithered down from the boulder it had been perched on and landed with a thunderous crash.

The hydra then lunged at him, and without thinking, Jake swiped at two of its 10 heads, severing them. He cursed as he remembered the admonishment he had issued to Jason just minutes before. Jake watched in frustration as two heads grew from each stump.

He quickly changed tactics. Running over to a large boulder, he slid behind it to form a new plan. He wished he had brought Leo along, then he could defeat the hydra like Percy and Hercules had; by cauterizing the head stumps as soon as he cut them off. Again, he cursed his impulsiveness.

However, a new plan came to him as soon as he saw the hydra's venomous blood sizzling on his sword blades. He remembered from Monster Fighting and Mythology classes that there was another way the hydra had been defeated- he just hoped it would work now.

He could hear the monster stalking closer. Jake rolled out from behind the boulder and dodged the jet of fire the hydra blasted at him. He lashed out with his sword and cut off one of the heads, about to test his theory. The head rolled off, and Jake quickly used the flat of his blade to wipe the hydra's poisonous blood on the stump. The head remained detached and Jake grinned in triumph. However, he should have focused less on the headless stump and focused more on the remaining 11 heads. The one closest to him snapped its jaws right by his face, causing him to stumble backwards and fall. Before he could get up, one of the hydra's claws slammed into his chest, and he felt its curved nails pierce his skin. He felt blood trickle out of the scratches the claws had made, and saw his white T-shirt turning crimson.

The closest hydra head roared in his face, and Jake knew he was about to die. He braced himself for the final blow and took a deep breath. Well, as deep a breath as he could, considering the metal hydra on his chest.

Suddenly, an awful screech came from somewhere to Jake's right. The hydra's heads all shuddered, and the monster backed off of him. Jake scrambled up and turned towards the source of the noise: Mike. He was blowing on his reed pipes as hard as he could, playing some sort of magic song, and the monster was reacting very negatively to the sound.

"Mike, run!" Jake shouted, but couldn't be heard over the noise. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the hydra straighten and hiss, rearing itself up.

Then, it charged.

But not at Jake.

"_No!_" Jake yelled, as he tried to reach Mike before the hydra did. Of course, no such luck. The horrible out-of-tune screeching stopped abuptly, and the hydra stepped away from the blood-covered motionless form of Jake's former protector.

For a moment, Jake couldn't breath, and time seemed to freeze. He saw Jason and Leo running out of the woods in slow motion, and he looked at the hydra. He thought that if the monster could show emotions, it would be smirking at him to say, "_What now?_"

Jake's vision went red, and a barrier of flames rose up around him. He shouted at the hydra, and it hissed back.

This time, he charged.

He didn't have to waste time smearing each stump with blood as he chopped off its heads. His swords were surrounded by fire, and they cauterized the stumps on contact. The hydra tried to fight back, but its fire didn't harm him, nor did its teeth pierce him. The forged hydra was no match for the Ares Blessing.

Once he had chopped off the final head, the hydra disintegrated like a real monster._ Leo really did think of everything, _he thought bitterly. He stood still for a moment, breathing heavily, and the red glow faded from him.

Then, Jake braced himself and turned to face the dreaded scene behind him, hoping against hope that there was a chance for his friend.

He still wasn't prepared for what he saw.

Jason was kneeling over Mike, and his expression was grim. Jason's eyes met Jake's, and he shook his head. Before Jake could reach Mike's side, Mike faded away and shrunk into a flower.

Jake choked back his tears. His protector, his friend, the one who had just saved his life, had died. Just like that. He didn't even get to say goodbye.

Leo was standing off to the side, trembling. When he caught Jake's gaze, Jake could see tears leaking out of his eyes.

"I'm sorry- I didn't mean- I didn't know-" Leo cut himself off with a choked sob. "I never-"

Jake didn't know what to do. He launched himself at Leo and grabbed him by the collar.

Leo didn't struggle. "I- I- I- can't," he said, not meeting Jake's stare. Jake shook him angrily, and Leo took a shuddering breath and shook his head.

Jake felt anger surge through his body, and he pulled his fist back to punch his best friend. Then, he remembered Chiron's words again.

This time he listened to them.

He dropped his hands to his side and Leo sank to the ground.

"I'm so so so sorry," Leo whispered, gasping for breath. "I'm so sorry."

Jake also struggled to breath, but he realized he wasn't angry at Leo. He turned back to the spot where Mike had lay, and examined his incarnate flower more closely.

That's what made him finally shed his tears; what made his anger turn into sorrow.

That's what finally broke him down.

It was a gardenia.

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In the days that followed, the Ares cabin burned a shroud for Mike. Traditionally, shrouds were only burned for demigod heroes, but nobody questioned that Mike's actions were heroic enough. Leo took a break from experimenting, although nobody blamed him for the destruction that was caused except for, well, himself. Thankfully, many weeks later, he trusted himself enough to continue his work. Jason's arm healed nicely, even though he refused to spend time in bed to rest. Katie recovered from her concussion, and the Apollo campers informed her that she wouldn't even have a scar.

But Jake would.

Not the scars the hydra had left on his chest, the scars that had been left from having his friend taken away from him, and so soon. He and Mike had always planned to travel when he got older- they were going to go places, Rome, Greece, Italy, and see things. Now, it was too late, and Jake was always thinking about the last words he had never gotten to say.

Together, Jake and Katie had planted Mike's gardenia in a separate garden, this one behind the Ares cabin. None of Jake's siblings mocked him for the garden, because they all understood the meaning of honoring a fallen comrade.

Jake realized Chiron was right. Had he not been so impulsive, and not let his emotions guide him, Mike would still be alive. In a way, Mike's death sobered him up; he no longer smoked, he fought much less, and thought things through.

Months later, after he breaking up a fight between one of his siblings and a son of Hermes, he recognized the change in him. He realized that fighting was no longer always worth it; sometimes, you just need to let things go. Jake realized that his resiliency had turned him into a leader.

He smiled, because he realized things would be okay, and that moving on wouldn't be so hard.

He smiled, because sometimes, scars heal.

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**A/N**

**Hi! Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it:) **

**Also, I am aware that in the Percy Jackson books and Rick Riordan's version, the hydra spits acid. However, in classic mythology, it breathes fire and has venemous blood, so I went with that.**

**The demigod submission form is on chapter 1, I am still accepting submissions, AS LONG AS YOU PM THEM TO ME, DO NOT SUBMIT IN THE REVIEWS. If you submit, please follow the story so you can see your story when it's finished!**

**To the Guest that reviewed last time, I'm sorry but I'm not going to write a oneshot for you unless you PM the information to me. I ask for PMs because it helps me organize things and that way I can contact you if I have questions and stuff.**

**Again, I really hope you liked it, and thanks again for reading!:)**

**Please REVIEW and or follow and or favorite!:)**

**Xoxo**

**EmMarie96**


	7. READ IF YOU ARE SUBMITTING A DEMIGOD

A/N One more thing, how much clearer can I get? DO NOT PUT YOUR SUBMISSIONS IN THE REVIEWS. DO NOT. That guarantees you won't get a story for your OC. If you want a story, PM me the submission form, so I can contact you if I need more information. DO NOT PUT YOUR DEMIGOD SUBMISSION IN THE REVIEWS. Seriously. I'm done, sorry for the angry-sounding update:p :) Xoxo, EmMarie96 


	8. Leara Eatern: Daughter of Bacchus

**A/N**

This oneshot is for Cassiopeia3 and her sister, who own Leara Eatern.

I hope you enjoy!:)

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Leara Eatern stuffed a last pair of tie-dyed tights into her duffel bag, then zipped it up. She sighed and gazed around the Fourth Cohort's quarters, taking in the place she had called home for the past 12 years.

After a long moment, she turned back to her overstuffed bag and slung it over her shoulder, then she walked out the door without a second glance.

She walked over to the main bridge of the Little Tiber, where Octavian, Dakota, Gwendolyn, and Hazel were waiting for her.

"Well, I'm all ready," she announced. Everyone except Octavian looked a little downcast.

"We're going to miss you, Leara," Hazel said sadly, giving her a hug. "Be safe."

Leara returned the hug tightly. "Don't worry about me, Hazy, I'm going to find the alleged

Camp Half Blood, and I'll be back in a few months. Look after yourself, alright?"

Hazel sniffed and nodded.

"Dakota, Gwen," Leara started, looking at each of them in turn. "It's been great. Watch out for each other, I'll be back before you know it!" she said, throwing her arms around both of them.

Octavian cleared his throat loudly. "Don't you have somewhere to go, Miss Eatern?"

She smiled sweetly at him. "Yes, I'd better be on my way. See ya, teddy bear murderer!"

Octavian gasped, and started sputtering, while the rest of the goodbye party laughed. "Why, you-you rotten- what a horrible thing to- I do not murder teddy- oh, get out of here!"

"Bye," she called to the group, turning on the heels of her combat boots and hiking off. "See you all in a few months!"

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Leara Eatern was the daughter of Bacchus, member of the Fourth Cohort. She had been at Camp Jupiter for 12 years, ever since Lupa and the wolves had taken her away from her Arizona home when she was 5.

When she first entered camp, one of the first people to greet her had been Octavian. He still held a grudge against her for her 5-year-old ADHD-9influenced comment she had made to him as soon as she saw him: "Wow! You look like a teddy bear murderer!"

No one had blamed her- Octavian had been surrounded by decapitated stuffed animals at the time, and the current praetors had thought she was adorable,

But not Octavian.

Ever since then, he had made it his personal vendetta to make her life miserable. That one comment had squashed all her chances of going on a quest. In all her years at Camp Jupiter, Octavian had made sure that not a single quest had been issued to Leara, and he always thought up an excuse as to why she couldn't join others on their quests.

So, Leara had been confined to camp all those years, but she didn't mind. She made friends with the people who were also left behind on the quests, people like Frank, Hazel, Dakota, and Gwendolyn. She was close to all of them, and saying goodbye to them had been harder than she had let on.

But after having lived most of her life at Camp Jupiter, she was ready for a change. She wanted to start a journey, a new chapter of her life, her own quest. She would be 18 in a few months, and she wanted to be able to say that she'd gone places and did things by that time.

Now, Leara felt a sense of independence as she started her journey east, feeling confident in her newfound freedom.

Of course, she got lost almost immediately.

"What is wrong with this thing?" she muttered to herself, turning her map around and flipping it over. "I've passed that tree like, 8 times! Now, if I go right..." she trailed off, then stopped in her tracks. She heard a rustling sound in some nearby bushes, and she froze, worried that it was some sort of monster.

She grabbed a knife from the arsenal attached to her belt, and stood on guard.  
Leara heard the bushes sigh, and she frowned in confusion.

"Hello?" she called out to whatever was lurking. "Uh, could you please come out here, whatever you are?"

The bushes sighed again, then Nico DiAngelo stepped out of them.

"Nico!" Leara exclaimed, sheathing her knife and rushing over to him and ruffling his hair. "How are you? What were you doing in the bushes?"

"Hi, Leara," Nico said flatly, obvious displeased that he had been caught. "I, uh, didn't expect to run into you way out here."

"You didn't come say goodbye to me this morning," she pouted, and he sighed for a third time, while running his fingers through his messed up hair.

"I'm sorry, I was busy. Where are you going again?"

"To the alleged Camp Half-Blood!" she announced. "It is my own personal quest, I must see it for myself!"

"How long are you going to be gone?" he asked eagerly, but Leara didn't seem to catch on.

"Oh, three, maybe four months," she said, and Nico grinned.

"Then let me help you out," he said, taking her by the hand and running straight for a tree.

"What, Nico, AHH!" she screamed, as it looked like they were about to crash.

They stepped into the shadows, and instantly the world around them twisted and disappeared, and was replaced by a different forest.

"Nico," Leara asked shakily. "Did we just shadow travel?"

"Yupp!" Nico answered, brushing himself off. "And here we are, Camp Half-Blood is about half a mile that way."

Leara whirled around. "Seiously? Thanks, Nico! I didn't really wanna walk this far, and this way I didn't have to stop and figure out how to do laundry!"

Nico sighed. "You know, you really should figure out how to use the washing machine sometime. It's really not that hard-"

"I know," she rushed on, cutting him off. "I just get distracted by all the buttons and knobs, then I forget what I'm doing."

Nico rolled his eyes. "Well, since you're here, I probably won't get to see you for a while," he said, starting to walk away. Leara bounded forward and wrapped him in a hug, which he reluctantly returned.

"I'm gonna miss you Nico!" she squealed, ruffling his hair again. Nico looked relieved when she finally pulled away from the hug.

"Uh, yeah, I'll miss you too," Nico said, running his fingers through his hair once more. "Just, take your time. Don't hurry back!"

"Bye Nico, be safe!" she called to him, already on her way up the hill.

Nico smiled ruefully at her retreating form.

"Have fun, Leara."

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It had been a week since Leara arrived at the no-longer-alleged Camp Half-Blood, and she was adjusting wonderfully. The campers had greeted her warmly, and accepted her without a second thought.

Here, people looked out for one another and helped each other in any way possible, which was something she wasn't used to. That was one of the major differences in the two camps, as she was beginning to find out. People from Camp Half-Blood hardly ever visited Camp Jupiter, and when they did they were treated with hostility. However, at Camp Half-Blood, things were totally the opposite. Most of the people she had met greeted her with a hug or a firm handshake, and they included her in all the activities she wanted to participate in. She made friends with most of the campers already, but she had immediately clicked with two campers in particular.

Today was a beautiful Wednesday morning, and she was meeting the Stoll brothers behind a row of cabins.

"So, what's the plan?" she asked, looking back and forth between the two brothers, who had identical evil glints in their eyes that she wholeheartedly approved of.

"Well, I had this brilliant idea-" Travis started, but Connor cut him off.

"Dude, it was my idea!" he said incredulously.

"Uh, no way, little bro. I said it first, it was my idea," Travis insisted.

"But I was the one who came up with the plan!"

"I'm the one who's making the plan possible!"

"Idea thief!"

"Liar!"

"Losers!" Leara cut in, reaching out and flicking them both on the forehead with her index fingers. "Just get on with it, tell me what we're doing back here!"

Travis rubbed his forehead ruefully. "Alright, alright. Well, anyway, we found the water pipes!"

"Hence that hole in the ground that the hose is coming from," Leara noted, gesturing to the described hole and garden hose. "So what?"

"So," Connor continued. "We've done some research. Yesterday, we tested our theory and spied on Percy in the morning while he got ready. Let me tell you, he is one lazy hero. The dude doesn't turn any knobs when it comes to water! He just waves his hands at the sink or shower or whatever and the water comes through. If the pressure is too low, he'll adjust it."

Leara started to grin, realizing where this was going."

"Yesterday, we shut off Percy's water to see what he would do if no water came out of the faucet," Travis continued. "He just kept using his powers to try and force the water through until I turned it back on and the water obeyed him."

"Henceforth the hole in the ground and the hose," Connor picked up. "Any moment now, Percy is going to wake up and take a shower. He's going to unknowingly fuel the water pressure we need for this prank. We've connected the hose to the pipe that usually would run to Cabin 3, and we're going to stick it in that open window right there." Connor pointed to the the slightly ajar window of the Apollo cabin, a few feet off. "So when Percy tries to turn on the water, and no water comes out-"

"He'll just try harder and harder, blasting the Apollo campers with a cold, wet surprise," Leara finished, grinning. "Let's do this!"

Together, the trio snuck up to the side of the Apollo cabin and fed the hose through the window.

Suddenly, a light came on in Cabin 3.

"This is it!" Travis whispered gleefully, holding the hose steady. "One... Two... Thr-"

He was cut off by the sound of water rushing out of the hose, and a lot of it. Seeing that Travis was about to lose his grip, Leara grabbed the hose with both hands to hold it steady and keep it from shooting itself backwards out of the window.

Screams and surprised yells issued from the victimized cabin, and the mischievous trio grinned at each other.

Suddenly, they heard the cabin's front door bang open.

"Run!" Connor yelled, scrambling away, as Travis did the same, leaving Leara holding the hose. She reacted too slowly and froze when a tall, soaking wet blonde guy stepped out from around the corner.

Leara's jaw dropped.

"What're you doing?" The demigod asked, more confused than angry.

"Oh. My. Gods," Leara said loudly. "You, my friend, are _attractive_!"

The boy looked taken aback. "Uh, excuse me?"

Leara gasped and clapped her hand over her mouth. "Oh, was that my outside voice?" she questioned. "Dang it!"

The boy looked even more confused. "Do I know you?"

Leara knew she should probably be embarrassed, but she didn't blush.

"I'm Leara!" she announced, holding out her hand for him to shake. Unfortunately for the stranger, she held out the hand that was still holding the hose, and she sprayed the boy full in the face.

"Oh gods, I'm so sorry!" she apologized, tossing the hose aside while he sputtered and coughed. "I know you look attractive soaking wet, but I didn't do that on purpose, I swear! Ohhh, was that my outside voice again? Darn it, I didn't mean to say that either! You know what? Just ignore me. Ignore my words from now on, Mr. McHottie. Dang it!"

Once the teen had coughed up all the water, he gave her a strange look, and Leara couldn't tell if he was amused or smug.

"I'm Michael Yew," he said, holding out his hand. Leara grabbed it and shook it a little over-enthusiastically.

"Great! And I'm Leara! Oh, I've already said that, haven't it?" Leara replied, still shaking his hand.

Michael chuckled a little and nodded. "Yes you have, Leara." He put his other hand on top of their clasped ones to stop her handshake from escalating out of control.

"Now, as head counselor, I must ask," he continued. "What were you doing?"

"Of course you're the son of the sun god," Leara said, as if receiving a revelation. "That's why you're so hot! That's funny, isn't it? Son of the sun. Haha!"

Michael looked bewildered, and Leara realized that her side of the conversation wasn't making much sense.

"Oh, yeah, sorry," she apologized again. "Back on topic. Uh, see, I'm pretty new here. I'm from Camp Jupiter, a daughter of Bacchus. You know, the wine dude? Anyway, I've heard all about your camp, so last week I decided to come up and see what it was really like. I'm not gonna stay forever, probably just a few months, so for now I'm in the Hermes cabin."

"Why not the Dionysus cabin?" Michael wondered.

Leara made a face. "They drink diet coke," she said disgustedly.

"So?"

"So, diet coke is nasty! Diet pepsi, however, is a different story, but the Dionysus kids hate it for some reason! But how could you not like it?! I mean, diet pepsi is what dreams are made of. Diet pepsi is what babies cry for, but we give them milk instead. Diet pepsi is the foundation of the entire univer-"

Michael cut her off. "On topic, remember? What were you doing?"

"I'm staying with the Hermes kids."

Michael gave her a "go on" look.

"Travis and Connor are Hermes kids."

"Ah," Michael realized, rolling his eyes. "They were here too?"

Leara crossed her heart with two fingers. "I will never betray my fellow comrades! But, yes, they were here too."

Michael sighed and ran his fingers through his golden-blonde hair. "I'm going to have to have a talk with them," he muttered, staring in the direction of the Hermes cabin. Then he looked back at Leara and smiled. "Anyway, welcome to camp! I hope you enjoy your time here."

"I think I will," Leara answered with a sly smile. "As long as uppity head counselors don't get in the way of my having fun!"

"What?" Michael pouted, pretending to be hurt. "I thought I was Mr. McHottie!"

Leara made a face and smacked the back of his head.

"Wow, your hair is soft!" she exclaimed, reaching up to touch his blonde waves once more. "Wait, I'm supposed to be mad at you!" she remembered, and she lightly smacked his head again.

Michael grinned. "Well, I'm going to go help them clean up. I forgive you for the mess; you actually made my day. I'll see you later, okay?"

"If you're lucky!" Leara called back as she skipped away.

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"What took you so long?" Connor demanded as she walked into the Hermes cabin moments later. "Did you get caught?"

"Yeah, but it was okay. The guy was hot!" Leara announced, as the boys' eyes glazed over. She sighed and waved her hand in front of their faces.

"Oh, sorry!" Travis said, snapping out of his daze. "It's just, as soon as you start talking about hot guys, we tend to space out."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. But if you had told me Michael Yew was that good looking, I would've pranked their cabin way sooner."

"What? Michael caught you?" Connor sputtered. "Oh, we are in so much trouble! You didn't tell on us, did you?" he asked anxiously.

"Well, actually..." Leara started, then trailed off.

"Oh no! Remember the last time he caught us? The whole making us speak in rhymes thing?" Travis said to his brother, both obviously distressed.

The three of them jumped as they heard a knock on the cabin door.

"It's him!" Connor exclaimed. "Hide!"

He and his brother both dove behind the closest bunk, while Leara went to answer the door. She opened it, and was surprised to see before her none other than Percy Jackson. He was holding a towel, a bundle of clothes, and a toothbrush.

"Hey, sorry to bother you guys," he started. "But the water went out in my cabin. Could I take a quick shower here?"

Travis and Connor snorted with laughter from behind the bunk, and Percy glanced towards them confusedly. Leara bit her lip to keep herself from laughing as well.

"Sure, come on in," she said, opening the door wider and gesturing him forward. "Just don't use any of the pink shampoo- it turns your hair green. The blue shampoo is fine, though."

"Thanks," Percy said, smiling.

"While you're in the shower, Travis and Connor and I could try and fix your water problem," Leara offered, still trying not to giggle.

"Really? That'd be great," Percy said, nodding. "By the way, I'm Percy. I don't think we've met."

"Hey Percy, I'm Leara! I'm new here," Leara informed him.

Percy smiled again. "Welcome to camp! Let me know if there's anything I can do to help you out," he added as he headed for the bathroom.

"Oh, you already have," Leara whispered to herself with a grin, as the Stolls stood up from their hiding place.

"Nice going, Leara," Travis said. "We'll put the pipes back to how they were, and he'll never know the difference. By the way, you do know that it's the blue shampoo that turns your hair green, not the pink one, don't you?"

"I know," Leara said impishly, and the boys both gave her a high-five.

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That week was a whirlwind of mischief and pranks. On Thursday, the trio crept into the Hypnos cabin and hid alarm clocks under all the camper's bunks; on Friday, they painted the door of the Ares cabin hot pink; Saturday they snuck into the Aphrodite cabin and replaced all their cosmetics with cheap knockoffs that wouldn't come off their faces; on Sunday they secretly glued the books in Malcolm's bookshelf shut, and on Monday they hacked into the camp's computers and rearranged everyone's schedules, so that the whole day was completely chaotic.

Finally Chiron had enough.

All of that trouble, combined with Percy's green hair, earned them each a stern lecture from the ancient centaur.

"One more step out of line," he warned, "and you three will be cleaning the stables for a month!"

So, free period found Travis, Connor, and Leara sitting in a field, trying to think of something to do.

"I'm bored," Travis sighed, flopping back onto the grass.

"Me too," Connor announced, copying his brother and lying back.

"Now, guys, we have to stay out of trouble, remember?" Leara reminded them. "Let's hold off on the pranks for now, Chiron said we'll be in big trouble if we cross the line one more time."

"I know," Travis pouted. "I just can't think of anything we can do that doesn't involve causing annoyance or headaches to others!"

"Well, I need to do something!" Leara announced, getting restless and standing up. "Someone race me to the top of the climbing wall. Ready, set, go!"

She took off running and heard the boys follow her, drawn in by the temptation of a competition. Once they had all reached the climbing wall, Connor took a seat at the control booth and started flipping random switches and pressing buttons. Lava started flowing down the side of the rock wall, sharp rocks appeared at the base, and several of the handholds retracted.

"Hey, stop!" a far-off voice called. Travis and Leara turned to see Michael Yew in the distance, running towards them.

"What's his problem?" Leara asked, buckling herself into the climbing harness as Travis did the same.

"Michael's always in charge of supervising the climbing wall on Tuesdays," Travis explained. "We're supposed to wait for him."

Leara snorted. "No way! You're going down!" she taunted as she reached for the closest handhold. Travis grinned and followed suit.

They were almost halfway up when Michael reached the wall.

"Guys, get down from there!" he called pleadingly. "I need to check your harnesses, you might get hurt!"

"Don't worry, we're fine!" Leara called down to him, stepping on Travis's hand and making him slip down a few feet.

"Leara, is that you?" Michael's voice was panicky now. "Please come down! And Connor, stop pressing those buttons!"

Leara looked down and saw the sharp rocks disappear.

"Aw, come on!" she whined. "Now it's not fun!"

She glanced down again ad saw Connor and Michael fighting over the control booth. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Travis gaining on her.

"Oh no you don't!" she laughed, bumping him with her hip, causing him to swing out and away from her. He grinned, and climbed back over to where she was.

They were now more than halfway to the top. Travis swung over and elbowed Leara in the side, causing her to lose her grip. She let go of the rocks and started falling. She heard something click, and looked down to see that one of the buckles on her harness had come undone, and then her harness fell off completely. She desperately grabbed for another handhold, and managed to catch hold of a small rock. Leara heard gasps and a shout below her.

"Leara, grab my hand!" Travis shouted down to her, panicking.

He reached down as far as he could, then kicked off the rock to try and reach her.

Too late.

Leara's fingers slipped off her small handhold and she screamed as she fell through the air. Travis desperately grasped at the air, missing her hand by inches.

She hit the ground, hard, and heard a sickening crack as she landed on her ankle, then her head slammed into the ground.

Her vision darkened and her senses dulled. She blinked a few times in an attempt to clear her vision, and she tried to sit up.

"Stay still, don't move!" an anxious voice ordered, gently pushing her back down. Leara thought it sounded familiar, and she tried to turn her head towards the person.

"Please, keep still," Michael Yew pleaded, softly placing his hand on her cheek.

"Do I know you, hot stuff?" Leara mumbled, in a daze.

"Shh, Leara," Michael said, biting his lip. "I think you might have a concussion. What hurts?"

"I dunno," Leara responded hazily. "I don't remember. Maybe. It's Friday?"

"Connor, help me!" Michael ordered, and the distressed teen came forward. "Go get the stretcher out of the supply shed, hurry!"

Connor ran off as fast as he could.

"Leara, sweetheart, stay as still as possible, alright?" Michael told her slowly, kneeling by her side again. "We're going to get you to the medical ward very soon."

"Yupp, I like bagels, too."

"She's delirious," Michael muttered to himself worriedly as he stood up. Then he turned to Travis.

"What in Hades were you thinking, Stoll?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"It was an accident!" Travis said distraughtly. "I didn't mean to-"

"You should know better!" Michael burst out, stepping forward and shoving Travis, hard, in the chest.

Travis stumbled backwards and fell to the ground.

"Look, I didn't think-"

"That's the problem!" Michael shouted at him angrily. "You never think!"

Leara stirred at the heightened voices, and Michael lowered his.

"She better be okay, Travis!" he said, still angrily but at a much lower volume.

Luckily for Travis, at that moment Connor came running up, wheeling the stretcher in front of him.

Together, Michael and Connor gently lifted Leara onto the stretcher and secured her in.

"Are we going to the zoo?" she asked, gazing around.

"Uh, no," Connor said, and Michael elbowed him. "I mean, yes?"

He shook his head in bewilderment as the boys wheeled her up to the medical ward.

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Leara woke up in a strange, comfortable white bed a few hours later.  
She looked around the unfamiliar room and saw several other unoccupied beds and white walls. She figured that this must be the medical ward, as she'd never been in there before.

Then she noticed the cast.

She sat straight up and stared at it for a moment, very confused. Then she remembered the rock climbing race, and Travis bumping into her, and... Falling. Then landing on her right leg, hard.

She scrunched up her nose and flopped back onto her bed, her head pounding. Suddenly, she heard a door open, then Michael Yew was standing by her bed.

"Hey, how're you feeling?" he asked, sitting down on the edge of her white mattress.

"I'm not at the zoo, am I?" she asked cockily, and he smiled.

"Glad you're feeling better, Leara."

"Could you maybe make me feel a little more better?" she asked, and he looked confused. "How long do I have to have a cast on my leg? Doesn't ambrosia, like, fix that?"

"Ah," Michael said, looking down at her broken limb. "Yeah, ambrosia can fix a lot of things, but it's still going to take about a week for your leg to heal completely. So that means, no more dangerous rock climbing competitions," he said sternly.

Leara stuck her tongue out at him. "See, remember what I said about uppity head counselors?"

"Broken bones are fun?"

"Touché."

He grinned at her. "I'll be right back, I'll bring you some dinner."

"Great, I'm starving!" she said. "Oh, could you bring me a bagel? For some reason I really want one."

Michael chuckled. "Sure, whatever you want, Leara," he confirmed, and he walked out.

A few minutes later, she heard a soft tap at the door.

"Uh, come in?" she called out.

Travis and Connor walked in quietly, with identical remorseful expressions on their faces.

"Hey guys!" she said happily, but they didn't seem to brighten.

"I'm sorry for pushing you, Leara!" Travis burst out, once he had reached her bedside.

Leara couldn't help but grin when she saw his expression; he looked just like a little kid that had been caught doing something naughty, and was made to apologize.  
She gave him a stern look, and he brought out a bouquet of flowers from behind his back.

"Really, I'm so so sorry!" he said, thrusting the flowers toward her.

"I'm sorry too!" Connor apologized. "I shouldn't have made the climbing wall so difficult. I brought you some chocolate!" he offered, holding out a nicely wrapped box.

"Guys, it's okay," Leara said with a smile. "It's totally not your fault. It was my idea to climb the wall, anyway."

Travis set the flowers on her night stand and ran his fingers through his curly reddish hair.

"I know it was, but I still feel bad," he said, frowning.

"Hey, I'm back-"

Leara and the Stolls turned to face the door, where Michael was holding a tray of food and glaring at Travis.

"Uh, I'm gonna go," Connor said, slipping out the door.

Michael glared at Travis for a moment longer, then ignored him and set the tray down on Leara's lap.

"I brought you some soup," he said, smiling at her and stepping in front of Travis. Travis peeked out from behind his back and wiggled his fingers at Leara, mouthing "I'll see you later!" Then he followed his brother out the door.

"I hope there's no chicken in this," Leara said suspiciously. "Chicken is disgusting."

"Nope, no chicken," Michael confirmed. "No vegetables either. Just plain noodle soup."

"Excellent!" she exclaimed, picking up her spoon. "Now could you get me a diet pepsi?"

"Way ahead of you," Michael said, pulling a blue can out of the pocket of his hoodie and setting it down on the tray.

"Thanks," she said, happily popping the tab and taking a sip of the ice cold soda.

"No problem. But will you do me a favor, Leara?" Michael asked, suddenly serious.

"As long as it doesn't involve getting up or doing work, then yeah, sure. What?"

"Actually, it's two things," he said, suddenly nervous. She sipped her soup and gestured for him to keep going.

"First of all, I know we haven't known each other for very long-"

"About 6 days and 19 hours," Leara interrupted, and Michael looked slightly miffed about being cut off. "Oh, sorry. That was just an estimate, anyway. Keep going, my good man."

The son of Apollo took a deep breath. "Well, as I was saying, we haven't known each other for very long, but... I really like you."

Leara suddenly felt very warm, and she could feel butterflies in her stomach. She put her spoon down.

"I think you're amazing," he continued. "You're beautiful, smart, nice, and hilarious. In the short time that I've known you, you've made my life better. You're showing me what fun looks like. I'd love to get to know you better, Leara."

Leara's heart skipped a beat.

"Will you go out with me?"

Leara stared at him for a moment, and he tugged at the collar of his hoodie.

"Uh, I know that was really impulsive of me," he said, biting his lip. "And before I knew you I swear, I would never take things this quickly. It's just, you're so... Amazing. I don't want to have to wait any longer."

For the first time in her life, Leara forgot how to form words.

"Obcaurseiowagowoutwiffyew!"she exclaimed, and he blinked once.

"Uh, excuse me?"

Leara took a deep breath to calm herself down.

"Of course I'll go out with you!" she burst out, grinning widely.

If it was possible, he grinned even wider. Leara hardly ever got surprised, but what Michael did next really caught her off-guard.

He leaned forward and kissed her.

Full on the mouth.

Leara gasped in astonishment, but immediately returned the kiss. It was gentle, yet fierce; passionate, yet restrained. She reached out and twisted her fingers through his soft wavy hair, her other hand on resting his neck. His hands copied hers, and he ran his fingers through her long, orange-highlighted red hair.

After several long moments, they broke apart.

"Wow," she breathed, still a little in shock.

"I have no idea what I was thinking," he smiled to her.

"Whatever it was, I'm glad you were thinking it," she smiled back. "Hey, you said you had two things to ask me. What was the other one?"

Michael looked at her intensely, and gently put his finger under her chin, tilting her head back so they were both looking into each other's eyes; him into her amethyst ones, and her into his bright sapphire ones.

"That you'll let me take care of you."

She nodded.

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The entire week Leara was on crutches while the ambrosia took effect, Michael waited on her hand and foot. He insisted on carrying her bags or weapons for her while she hobbled along on her crutches, he carried her up long flights of stairs so she wouldn't have to exert herself. On top of that, every night he brought her a plate of cookies and a glass of chocolate milk, which they ate together on the porch of the Hermes cabin.

Some of the more nosy campers, mainly the children of Aphrodite, whispered to each other that he doted on her too much- that he was being over-protective, and that Leara was acting helpless, and both of them were insane.

They were not insane, though Leara could have easily brought insanity to each of the whisperer's with her demigod powers of Bacchus.

No, not insane.

In love.

When Leara's leg had healed, Michael didn't stop his acts. He held the door for her, gave her massages after long days, and, even though she didn't want to, he made her eat her vegetables.

That's not to say that she completely matured and stopped pulling pranks. Quite the contrary.

She still hung out with Travis and Connor every spare moment she had, and, much to Michael's dismay, every time he turned his back they had gotten themselves into some sort of trouble.

One night, several weeks after the climbing wall incident, Leara and Michael were lying on the beach together, staring at the sea and enjoying each other's company.

"You know, Michael," Leara stated softly. "These last 4 weeks with you have been the best time of my life."

"Mine too," Michael smiled, and draped his arm around her. "Hold on," he said after a moment, turning to look at her. "We've been dating for 6 weeks!"

"I know," Leara nodded. "But the first two were not that great."

"Huh? What was the matter?" Michael asked, confused.

"My broken leg and everything?"

Michael seemed satisfied. "Alright, I'll give you that. Now, how about you name one reason I shouldn't kiss you right now?"

"Because you were just drinking nasty strawberry milk, and I could probably taste it?"  
Michael pouted.

"Oh, fine, strawberry boy," she relented, leaning in for a quick kiss.

"Thanks, love," he grinned, leaning forward to give her an extra kiss on the forehead. "I hope the strawberry milk didn't poison you."

"Eh, too soon to tell."

Michael laughed, and just then an enormous falling star shot across the sky.

"Did you see that? Did you see that?" Leara asked excitedly, standing up and pointing.

"Yes, I saw it," Michael affirmed. "You know what I think?"

"What?"

"I think that was a sign of approval from our godly relatives."

"Really?" Leara asked, looking up at the sky again.

At that moment, another falling star appeared, this one even bigger than the first.  
Leara grinned.

"I think you're right."

"Not that we need approval," Michael put in. "But it's nice to know that love can't be deterred by Roman and Greek boundaries."

"Never."

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Leara enjoyed many more romantic nights with Michael, and got herself into a lot more trouble with her partners in crime over the fall months. Sadly, however, several months later, in early December, it was time for her to return to Camp Jupiter.

Nico would soon be waiting to shadow-travel her across the country, and she started feeling sad as she pulled her final load of clothes out of the dryer.

Connor was glumly leaning on the washing machine.

"Do you really have to go, Leara?" he asked, making puppy-dog eyes at her. Leara didn't buy the innocent look for a second, mainly because as he did it, he was squeezing a bottle of purple food coloring into the detergent.

"I've been here way longer than I should have already," she answered sadly.

"That's mainly because it took you two months to learn how to work the dryer," Connor pointed out.

"Well yeah," she agreed. "But in my defense, there are-"

"A lot of buttons and knobs," Connor finished, as if he had heard the phrase a hundred times before, which he had. "I know. Which is why I'm proud of you!"

She smiled and shut the dryer door, stuffing her clothes into her old duffel bag.

"Walk me out?" she asked him, holding her elbow up.

"Of course," he said, hooking his arm through hers and taking her bag from her.

They left the laundry building and headed for Thalia's Pine, where Michael and Travis were waiting for her.

"I'm going to miss you so much!" Travis burst out, throwing his arms around Leara as soon as she was within reach. "I hate goodbyes!"

She squeezed him tightly. "I do too. But not as much as I hate strawberry milk, that stuff is gross."

Travis grinned into her shoulder and then pulled away. "Can't you keep a serious thought in your head for more than five seconds?"

"I probably could," Leara said, shrugging. "But you gotta admit, strawberry milk is nasty."

Travis nodded. "I agree."

Leara turned and hugged Connor, who gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Look after yourself, Leara," he said, tweaking her nose.

She giggled. "You do the same," she responded, squeezing his hand.

Then she turned to Michael, who looked like he was trying not to cry.

She didn't say anything, he just spread his arms out and wrapped her in the tightest, safest, warmest hug she had ever received, and it was a long time before she was able to pull away.

She opened her mouth to say her goodbyes, but Michael put his finger over her lips.

"Until we meet again?" he said, more of a statement than a question.

Leara smiled up at him and nodded, then she stood on the tiptoes of her combat boots and leaned up to kiss him. He returned the short, sweet kiss, and they stood there, frozen in a moment that seemed like an eternity

"Love you, Michael," she said softly, pulling away. He reached out and grabbed her hand, just to hold it for a moment longer.

"Love you more, Leara," he murmured, and she pulled away completely this time, shouldering her duffel back and heading down the hill.

Tomorrow would be Leara's 18th birthday, and she knew she would spend it with her old friends Dakota, Gwendolyn, Hazel, and Frank, in the dining hall with lots of cake. She smiled at the thought, though it felt bittersweet.

Leara was mainly happy, though. She had accomplished what she set out to do- she had started and completed her own personal quest.

Usually, Leara wasn't the kind of person to look back, but she had to steal one last glance at Camp Half-Blood before she got to the bottom of the hill. She turned and waved to her friends, who were still watching her leave.

After that last glance, she didn't feel sad as she started back down the hill; in fact, she smiled.

She knew she'd be back.

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**A/N  
**

**Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!**

**Please review, and or follow, and or favorite!**

**If you would like to submit a demigod, please read the chapter on submitting first. The submission form can be found in chapter 1. I am still accepting requests, and I will do every one. I have to tell you though, I have quite a few to do already, and I probably won't be able to start your story until at least January. Don't let that stop you from submitting, though!:) Keep 'em coming!**

**However, I'd prefer you to submit a boy, as I have like 10 girls and only 2 boys. You can still submit a girl if you'd like, though!:)**

**I'm going to spend Thanksgiving weekend in Indiana, at a cabin where I won't get internet service, so I may or may not be able to update next weekend Sorry for the delay!**

**Again, thanks so much for reading!:) Please review!  
**

**Xoxoxo,  
EmMarie**


	9. Elizabeth Lehrer: Daughter of Poseidon

**A/N**

**Just so there's no confusion, I'd like to clarify that I will write either Elizabeth or Lizzie when I am referring to the main character.**

**This oneshot is for DanceForever16, who owns Elizabeth Lehrer. :)**

**I hope you like it!**

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Elizabeth Lehrer's day had been strange even before she had taken a ride in the chariot of the sun god.

First of all, she still wasn't sure if she was dreaming or not. When her best friend Emma introduced the hot, young-looking guy to her as her father, she had been taken aback. Emma was 15, like she was, and the driver of the chariot, apparently Apollo, couldn't have been more than 25.

She decided to ignore that inconsistency for now, since much stranger things had happened that afternoon.

Flashback time!

Elizabeth had gone to cheer practice as usual today, and called the team to order using her whistle.

"Alright girls," she called out, while they organized themselves. "We've got a big game this weekend, so we've gotta be in top form! Let's go over formation B today, we could use some improvement there."

The team obeyed their captain and the bases got into position.

"Ready, up!" Lizzie yelled as she blew hard on her whistle. The cheerleaders were about to start their routine, when they all stiffened and turned towards a huge, unfamiliar figure stalking towards them.

"Ew, who is that fat hairy guy?" one of the girls exclaimed.

"Nasty, I can smell him from here!" another shouted out.

The team dissolved into a shower of gossipy remarks.

"He must be from that goat farm on Main Street!"

"The dude looks like a goat!"

"He kind of reminds me of my Uncle Roger."

"Why is he wearing a diaper?"

"Girls, we need to go, NOW!" Emma spoke up, trying to turn the cheerleaders attention away from their newfound insult catcher.

"Emma, we're not done practicing!" Lizzie protested.

"I don't care, Lizzie," Emma pleaded. "They need to get out of here!"

Lizzie was startled by the urgency in her voice.

"Uh, okay, everyone," Lizzie called to the group. "We're done here. You can go back inside the school now."

Emma nodded approvingly, and as soon as the cheer squad was out of sight, she slipped her charm bracelet off. It instantly grew into a set of bow and arrows, and she notched an arrow into the drawstring.

"Emma, what the heck-" Lizzie started, but stopped as the mysterious figure stepped into view.

She gasped as she recognized it. It looked like a Minotaur, like from mythology or something. _But, it couldn't be,_ she scolded herself. _That's ridiculous._

However, she couldn't deny what she saw. It WAS a Minotaur, complete with a fur-covered body, two horns, and was that... A tighty whitey?

Thankfully, she didn't have time to ponder the thought, because just then Emma shot off 3 arrows in quick succession, which pierced the monster in the chest.

"What're you doing?" Lizzie asked, bewildered, as Emma shot two more arrows at the Minotaur while it roared in outrage.

"Never mind, just run!" Emma exclaimed, taking Lizzie's hand and pulling her across the field. Lizzie could hear the monster slowly following them.

"Dad, please, I need a lift!" Emma shouted upwards, glancing at the sky. "Please!"

"Emma, what-" Lizzie tried to say, because as far as she knew, Emma didn't have a father. However, she didn't get to finish her question.

They heard a bellowing roar behind them, and they whirled around to face the Minotaur, which had finally caught up to them.

Emma sank another arrow into the monster's chest, and it stumbled backwards. It quickly recovered, and after roaring once more, it charged at them.

Suddenly, a blinding flash caused the two girls to shield their eyes and fall to the ground.

When they opened their eyes, they saw a beautiful golden chariot in the grass in front of them. Where the Minotaur had been, now there was only dust.

Standing in the chariot was a well-built guy with wavy blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. Emma grinned and jumped up to give him a hug.

"Who- What-" Lizzie stuttered. She just couldn't seem to finish any of her sentences today.

Emma turned to Lizzie and smiled.

"This is my Dad, Apollo, the sun god."

End of Flashback!

Now, the wind was rushing through Elizabeth's long, dark brown hair, and they were going so fast that the ground was just a blur of motion.

"We're almost there!" she heard Emma shout near her ear.

"Almost where?" Lizzie shouted back, but her voice was lost in the wind.

Suddenly, the golden chariot dipped down, and they began their descent, and Lizzie had to grip the sides to avoid flying out.

The ground raced towards them at an alarming speed, but just as they were about to crash, the chariot leveled out and landed gently in the grass, their momentum propelling them along the ground for a few hundred feet.

They rolled to a stop in front of a large white farmhouse.

Lizzie hopped out of the chariot and immediately spun to the ground, a little dizzy from the ride.

"Wh-where are we?" she asked shakily, looking at Emma and Apollo for an explanation.

"Camp Half-Blood," a matter-of-fact voice announced from behind her. Lizzie turned around and stood up slowly to face a tall, athletic-looking, curly blonde-haired girl with piercing gray eyes.

"Excuse me?" Lizzie stuttered.

"You're at Camp Half-Blood, one of the only safe places on earth for demigods."

Lizzie turned to Emma for clarification, but found that her friend was deep in conversation with the blonde guy- her father?

The blonde girl acknowledged her bewilderment. "I'm Annabeth. You'd better come with me, I'll explain everything."

Just then, there was another blinding flash, and the chariot and Apollo both disappeared.

"Oh gods, Annabeth," Emma exclaimed, coming over to join their conversation. "I always suspected that Lizzie was a demigod, but today a Minotaur showed up at school and tried to attack Lizzie!"

Annabeth's eyes widened. "Seriously? The last time the Minotaur showed up for a demigod..." she trailed off. "Never mind that right now. Emma, you need to go file a monster report with Chiron, I'll take Lizzie around camp and explain things."

"Got it," Emma said, heading inside the house.

Annabeth turned back to the still-confused Elizabeth. "Alright, let's go on a walk around camp. I've got a lot to tell you..."

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After getting over the initial shock, Lizzie realized that she could accept the whole thing with less skepticism than she thought. To her, everything made sense now: the ADHD, the dyslexia, the strange things she'd been seeing, and of course, the mystery of her father...

"So your godly parent would definitely be your father?" Annabeth asked.

"I think so," Lizzie nodded. "My mom died in 9/11 when I was really young, and I've lived with my aunt and uncle ever since. They've never really mentioned my dad."

"Hmm," Annabeth mused. "I'd say it isn't Apollo, since he didn't claim you when he saw you, and I'm pretty sure it's not Ares- you don't seem the type. I'd guess maybe Hermes, or even some other minor god."

Lizzie could hardly follow the confusing list Annabeth had made, so she just nodded and looked interested.

"Except for the whole Minotaur thing," Annabeth continued. That part obviously confused her. "The Minotaur doesn't come out for just anyone. Well, I guess we'll see tonight!"

"Why tonight?" Lizzie wondered.

"Every night, we have a campfire," Annabeth explained. "It's kind of become a tradition to be claimed then."

Lizzie brightened. "Oh, well in that case, I can't wait!"

They had reached a cluster of cabins, each differently designed.

"These are the cabins to the gods," Annabeth explained. "That's where we stay. There's no one here right now, everyone's probably at lunch."

Her words were proven wrong as the door to the blue, seashell-covered cabin on the left opened, and a dark-haired teenager stepped out.

"Percy!" Annabeth called to the stranger. "Come over here!"

Percy headed their way.

"Hey," he said, holding out a hand for Lizzie to shake. "You must be new. I'm Percy, as you've heard."

"Elizabeth," she responded, returning the handshake firmly. She took a deep breath and she could suddenly smell the ocean. Not like a crowded beach smell, but a clean fresh shore. She figured it must be the guys' cologne. It mixed well with the scent of her coconut shampoo.

"Welcome to camp!" he said warmly. Then Annabeth tapped his arm, and he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

Annabeth smiled at him, then explained to Lizzie, "He's my boyfriend."

"Ah," Lizzie acknowledged, looking back and forth between them. She decided that they were a really cute couple.

"Anyway, Perce," Annabeth said pointedly. "You'll never guess what monster chased Lizzie before she got here."

"I probably never will," Percy said, grinning. "What was it?"

"The Minotaur."

Percy gave Lizzie an impressed nod. "I was the last demigod it chased into camp. Was it still wearing its tighty whiteys?"

Lizzie nodded confusedly.

"Yeah, I still don't get that," Percy said, grinning. "Anyway, you'll be staying in the Hermes cabin until you're claimed, why don't we get you settled there for now?"

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That night, the enchanted bonfire captivated Elizabeth. The energy was high tonight, because everyone was excited about the new arrival, and the flames were tall and rainbow-colored, burning brightly.

Percy, Annabeth, Emma, who were sitting beside her, and Chiron kept glancing at her. Annabeth had explained to her that when someone gets claimed, a burning symbol blazes above their heads, and Lizzie figured that was what they were looking for.

Just as Will Solace finished up the singalong, Chiron stepped up to the microphone.

"Campers!" he announced with a smile. "Today, something very important-"

Suddenly, the ground began to shake, and whatever Chiron had been about to say was lost in the chaos that ensued.

Demigods were shaken out of their seats, and even the fire nearly died down.

There was a blinding streak of light, and suddenly a huge form materialized next to the stage. It was a man, about 10 feet tall, with dark hair and a matching beard. He looked like a fisherman, with khaki shorts and a green fishing hat that had hooks and lures stuck to it.

"Dad?" Percy said incredulously, standing up beside Lizzie, as the rest of the campers bowed down.

Lizzie realized that the huge man must be Poseidon, and she looked at him in awe. This was the second god she had seen today.

"Hello son," Poseidon answered warmly. "It's nice to see you. But you are not the reason I'm here."

Poseidon cleared his throat and locked eyes with Lizzie.

"Elizabeth Lehrer," he stated, pointing at the demigod. She stood up, unsure what to do. "Camp Half-Blood, I present to you Elizabeth Lehrer, daughter of Poseidon."

Percy's jaw dropped. The campfire flared up bright red with sparkles, and everyone craned their necks to see her. Out of the corner of her eye, Lizzie saw blue flames dancing above her head, and she knew it was a trident symbol.

Poseidon beckoned her forward, and she stepped to the front of the stage. He pulled a silver sword striped with bronze from out of nowhere and presented it to Lizzie, who took it hesitantly.

"My daughter," he said quietly. "This is a late 15th birthday present. Its name is Seismós. Happy Birthday."

Lizzie was still stunned, and couldn't think of anything to say. She stammered a "thank you," and then someone spoke up.

"What about the vow?" It was Percy, and the question sounded more like a challenge.

Poseidon turned to face his other child, who had an unreadable expression on his face.

"What of it?" Poseidon said evenly.

"You broke it twice?" This time Lizzie could make out some sort of emotion; anger? Betrayal? Resentment?

Poseidon gave Percy a strange look. "What can I say, son? Things happen."

Percy pursed his lips and sat back down, looking upset.

Poseidon turned back to Lizzie. "Take care, child. I know you will do great things."

Lizzie could only nod, and with another bright flash of light, Poseidon disappeared again.

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The walk down the hill seemed longer than the trek up. The campers were now keeping their distance, and giving her strange looks. She turned her eyes to the ground and tried to ignore the whispers.

"Wanna take a walk?"

She looked up. Percy, her new brother, was the one who had spoken.

"Sure," Lizzie said, almost relieved. She broke away from the group and joined Percy as he strolled through the woods.

Finally, they came upon a large rock formation. To Lizzie, the rocks looked like a giant pile of poop.

"This is Zeus's Fist," Percy informed her, gesturing at the rocks. Lizzie felt relieved that she hadn't voiced her thought aloud; to call something that was connected to Zeus "crap?" Not a very good idea.

Percy walked over and climbed halfway up the rocks, then leaned against the face. Lizzie joined him.

"So, I guess we're related," Percy stated, biting his lip.

"I guess so," Lizzie responded, not sure what else to say.

"My dad is Poseidon... And your dad is Poseidon," he continued, stating the obvious.

Lizzie blinked. "Yes?"

"So Poseidon must've known your mom after he knew my mom."

Lizzie gave him a strange look.

"What's the matter?"

"I dunno," Percy sighed, sliding down the rock face so that he was sitting down with his legs out in front of him. "It's just kind of weird for me. I mean, I know that all the other campers have demigod siblings, but I just thought that Poseidon... Maybe..." He trailed off and shoved his hands in his jacket pockets.

"Poseidon what?" Lizzie prompted, curious, sliding down to sit on the rock as well.

Percy sighed. "I know it's stupid, but... I just thought that maybe Poseidon really loved my mom."

Lizzie thought about that for a moment, then answered carefully. "I don't think it's stupid, I know how you feel."

Percy looked at her skeptically.

"I mean, it makes sense," she continued. "I kind of always imagined that my dad was some dashing, romantic hero who fell in love with my mom, then some tragedy drove us apart. I'm sure Poseidon loved our moms at the time, but the reality is, our dad is a god, so he pretty much just does whatever he wants."

Percy got a strange look on his face when she said "our dad," but it vanished quickly. "I know. But I still can't help feeling a little disappointed."

"Me too."

They sat in silence on the rocks for a few minutes, then Percy scooted closer to her.

"You know what, Elizabeth?" he asked, giving her a smile. "We shouldn't worry about that too much, it's not our problem. Our moms knew what they were getting into, and that's just how Dad is. For now, I'm really excited that you're here!"

"Really?" Lizzie asked, "You seemed a little annoyed when I was claimed."

"Nawh, I was just surprised," Percy said, waving his hand to dismiss the thought. "This is going to be fun! I've never had a sibling before, much less a little sister!"

"I've never had a sibling before either," Lizzie confessed. "Just my older cousin Ryan, and he was annoying. He called me Lizard. Don't get any ideas!" she warned, as Percy opened his mouth.

Percy grinned. "Okay, okay, no Lizard," he promised. "Can I call you Lizzie?"

She shrugged. "Everyone else does."

Percy frowned. "Then I need something different. I'll think about it..." he trailed off. Then he elbowed her gently. "Let's get to the cabin, it's getting late, huh?"

He stood up then held out a hand to help her to her feet, then they climbed down from the rocks and headed for Cabin 3.

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When they reached the cabin, Lizzie was taken aback by how... Messy it was.

"Uh, what is that?" she asked, pointing to a fuzzy foreign object in the corner.

"Oh, dang it Liz," Percy said, quickly pushing her back out the door. "Hold on a sec, okay?"

And he shut the door firmly. Lizzie could hear lots of banging and crashing going on inside, and after 10 minutes of his impromptu cleaning spree, Percy finally opened the door.

The cabin wasn't exactly sparkling, but it was decent.

"You need to work on your roommate skills, bro," she remarked, noting the huge pile of dirty laundry in the corner.

Percy rubbed the back of his neck. "This is going to take some getting used to," he admitted, tossing a candy wrapper into the over-full trash can.

"Whose is that?" Lizzie asked, pointing to a pink suitcase on a bunk two rows down from Percy's.

"Oh, I forgot," he said, remembering something. "Since you didn't have anything with you, the campers took up a collection. The camp will give you some money, and the children of Aphrodite will take you shopping sometime this week."

"Sounds good," Lizzie said, going over to inspect the supplies inside the suitcase. There was a toothbrush, shampoo and conditioner, a towel, a couple pairs of sweat pants, some denim shorts, and several orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirts, among other things.

She grabbed some sweat pants and a T-shirt and went to change in the bathroom.

When she came out, she was relieved to see that Percy was wearing a T-shirt and pajama bottoms as well. Her cousin Ryan slept only in his boxers, and Lizzie would have felt extremely awkward if that was the case here.

They both got ready for bed, and when it was time for lights out, they hopped onto their beds on opposite sides of the cabin.

"'Night, Percy," Lizzie said, before climbing under her covers.

"'Night, Liz," Percy replied. "Sleep tight."

Lizzie thought she would fall asleep almost immediately, as she had had such a long day, but sleep wouldn't come to her.

Finally, just as she was about to doze off, she heard a quiet rumbling noise.

_Gchhaaaaaa._

She froze. Then she heard the noise again, this time louder.

_GGCCHHHAAAAAAAAA._

She gasped softly and sat upright, and spun around to face Percy. She was just about to call his name when the sound came again.

_Gcchhhhaaaaaa._

Her mouth slid into an irritated frown as she located the source of the noise and realized what it was._ Percy snores in his sleep? _she thought, slightly annoyed. _This is going to take more getting used to than I thought..._

_GGCCHHHHAAAAA!_

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Percy was obviously well-respected at camp. As they got in line for breakfast the next morning, several demigods immediately offered to let him cut, but Percy waved them off.

"I've told you guys a hundred times, I can wait in line," Percy told them, and they reluctantly kept their places.

"So anyway," Percy said, turning back to Lizzie. "Camp is really fun. I'm gonna show you around all day, and help you get used to stuff. I'll introduce you to some people, that'll help you get settled."

They reached the front of the line, and Percy grabbed two plates and passed one to her.

"So how are we seated?" Lizzie asked, looking around the dining pavilion. "Age? Rank?"

Percy snorted. "We don't have ranks here, though I'm sure some of the kids would love go be in charge. We're all equal. But no, we're seated according to our godly parents- all the Athena campers at one table, all the Hermes cabin at another, and so on."

"Who're they?" Lizzie asked, gesturing to a table full of rowdy, tough-looking kids.

"Oh, them," Percy answered, reaching for the muffins and placing two on her plate. "They're the children of Ares. You'll probably want to stay clear of them for a while- they can be pretty nasty. There are a couple of decent guys there, but most of them will knock you down faster than you can say hello."

"Oh," Lizzie answered in a small voice, as Percy scooped some scrambled eggs onto her plate. "Are all the campers here that... Aggressive?"

"Gods, no," Percy answered with a laugh. "Most of the demigods here are pretty friendly, like your friend Emma," he said, gesturing to the Apollo table, where Emma gave her a wave.

"Gotcha," Lizzie said, relieved. Percy grabbed them each a glass of orange juice and they sat down at the blue marble table on the far right.

Lizzie started to dig in to her turkey bacon, but stopped when she saw Percy scrape some of his food into the burning brazier beside their table.

"Uh, why are you doing that?" she asked, confused.

"Oh, right, I forgot you didn't know. It's a sacrifice to the gods," Percy explained. "Just like a little thank-you or hello. I put an extra muffin on your tray, you can just toss that in."

Lizzie picked up one of her muffins and examined it for a moment.

"Are we supposed to say anything?" she asked.

Percy dipped his head to the side. "If you want. It's not really required, just something along the lines of, 'For the gods.'"

"Can I try and say something to dad?" she asked hesitantly.

Percy smiled kindly. "You can try, but don't be too disappointed if he doesn't answer. The gods tend to stay out of their kids' lives."

Lizzie nodded. She scooted closer to the brazier and dropped the muffin into the fire.

_"If you can hear me, Dad,"_ she said in her head. _"Could you give me a little help? I don't know what I'm doing here; I'm scared, confused, and alone-" _she cut off her thought with a glance at Percy, who was picking the chocolate chips out of his muffin and eating them.

_"You know what? Never mind."_ she resumed her silent prayer. _"I'm not alone, my brother seems like a good guy. So, uh, have a nice day," _she finished, a little unsure how to end the one-sided conversation.

Then she turned back to her breakfast, which had cooled a little. They ate in silence for a few moments until Lizzie realized Percy was staring at her with intense sea green eyes that looked so much like her own.

"What?" she asked, looking around. "Did I do something wrong?"

Percy blinked once and shook his head to clear it.

"No, not at all," he said quickly. "I was just thinking; it's nice to have someone to sit with for once."

Lizzie looked around and realized that there were no tables occupied by less than 5 campers. It dawned on her that Percy must have had to eat all meals alone before she came along.

She felt a rush of sympathy for him. She remembered sitting alone at lunch at school every day, before she got popular when she became captain of the cheer team in 8th grade. She had been teased a lot for her dyslexia and ADHD and had to go to summer school, which didn't exactly boost her popularity.

Percy had been sitting alone for 5 years, and now Lizzie was glad to be his sister.

"Well, I'm glad to have someone to sit with too," she confessed. "I hate being the new kid."

Percy grinned at her. "I felt the exact same way. But I know you'll love it here, once you get to know your way around. That reminds me, let's take a look at the schedule for today."

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"So," Percy stated later that day, walking in a slow circle around Lizzie. They were the only ones in the sword-fighting arena other than Emma, who had come to watch. "You've never picked up a sword before?"

"Seriously?" Lizzie asked him. "I'm a cheerleader in high school. No, I've never picked up a sword before!"

"Alright, just checking," Percy said placatingly. "So then we'll start with the basics. He pulled a regular ball point pen out of his pocket, and Lizzie stared at it when he held it out.

"This is Anaklusmos," he said, uncapping the pen. It instantly grew into a full-sized sword, and it looked like Celestial Bronze to Lizzie.

"Riptide," Lizzie translated out loud.

"Exactly!" Percy said, swinging his sword around, testing the balance. He looked extremely comfortable with it, which was kind of unnerving to Lizzie. A teenage guy who could wield a deadly weapon with as much normalcy as he would eat a slice of pizza? Weird.

"Now you get out your sword, Seismós," Percy instructed.

Lizzie did as she was told and unsheathed her Celestial Bronze-striped silver sword. "Seismós is 'Earthquake' in Ancient Greek, right?"

Percy nodded. "Yeah, Dad is also the god of earthquakes, among other things."

"So do I hold it like this?" Lizzie asked, awkwardly lifting her sword.

"No, you put your hand under the hilt, you can grip it better that way."

Percy spent the next hour or so giving Lizzie sword-fighting lessons. Unlike him, she wasn't a natural, and it was a long time before she was ready to try anything other than basic swipes.

"Not bad," Percy said appreciatively, as she managed to block one of his strikes.

Lizzie sighed. "Who are you kidding? I'm awful!"

Emma came up beside her. "You know what, Liz?" she said jokingly. "Maybe you should try archery."

Percy chuckled while Lizzie elbowed her friend in the ribs.

"I'm taking a break anyway," Lizzie said dejectedly. "I can't focus on this anymore."

"You could use a rest," Percy nodded. "We could go down to the lake?"

Lizzie brightened. "Yeah! Emma, why don't you come with us?"

"Oh, no way!" Emma exclaimed, backing away. "Last time I went swimming with you guys, you said 'We won't use our powers, a splash fight'll be fun!' you said. I ended up with an earful and a lungful of water! So, thank you, but no way!"

The Poseidon siblings grinned at each other. It turned out that there had been a reason Lizzie's mother had left a note to her aunt and uncle instructing her to not let Lizzie join any swim teams- Lizzie had water powers that rivaled Percy's, and she had a surprising amount of control over them.

"Really, we mean it this time!" Lizzie insisted, smiling mischievously, but Emma was already running away.

Lizzie laughed. "Alright, off to the lake!"

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Lizzie sat on her bed after campfire a couple nights later and waited for Percy to come back. He was right behind her walking down from campfire, so he would probably be back soon.

Moments later, he strolled through the door, sipping a diet coke. He crossed the room in a couple of long strides and flopped down on his bed.

"Where were you?" Lizzie asked, leaning back onto her pile of pillows.

"I just wanted to walk Annabeth to her cabin so I could say good night," Percy answered nonchalantly, and Lizzie frowned.

"So how long have you guys been together?" she wanted to know.

"Oh, about a year and a half, two years," Percy guessed. "It's been great. I love Annabeth."

"Did you, like, immediately click when you first met?" she persisted.

"Huh? Well, I mean, not immediately," Percy shrugged, then looked quizzically at her frown. "Why? Is something bothering you?"

"What do guys like?" Lizzie burst out, and Percy choked on his diet coke.

"Excuse me?" he asked, taken aback.

Lizzie rolled her eyes. "I mean, how do you get a guy to like you?"

"What do you mean?" Percy questioned.

"I mean, this morning during archery, I was talking with a couple of guys from the Aphrodite cabin, Logan and Axl, and they said they would sit with me at campfire, but then they didn't!" Lizzie said, crossing her arms.

"Ah, I see," Percy said, nodding, though it was obvious that he didn't.

Lizzie sighed patiently. "What I mean is, I thought they liked me, because we were getting on well while we were talking, but they didn't follow through and sit by me! What went wrong?"

Percy scratched the back of his head, looking bewildered. "Uh, I dunno, Izzie," which was the nickname Percy had decided on after nixing Lizbeth, Betty, and Elly. "Maybe they forgot?"

"But I know they didn't!" Lizzie exclaimed, rising to pace back and forth in front of her bed. "They came up to me afterwards and said they forgot they were sitting with Miranda Gardner tonight!"

"So there's your answer," Percy said reasonably. "They already made plans, and it just slipped their mind."

Lizzie pouted. "No, you don't get it! Miranda wasn't sitting anywhere near Logan or Axl! She was sitting on the other side of the campfire!"

Percy stared at her blankly.

"That means," Lizzie explained, "that they not only blew me off, but they lied to me! And you know what else?"

Percy shook his head, thoroughly lost.

"Afterwards, they had the nerve to ask if I wanted to sit with them at tomorrow's campfire!" she exclaimed indignantly.

Percy blinked. "Izzie, I'm not following you. Isn't that a good thing? They still want to sit with you?"

Lizzie huffed. "Not at all! Because not five minutes before, I heard them ask Charlotte Davis the same question!"

"So let me get this straight," Percy tried to clarify. "You're upset because two guys wanted to sit with you, but then they sat with some other girl or girls, then lied to you about it. Now, they want to 'sit with you,'" he made quotation marks with his fingers, "again tomorrow. And you're getting upset because those jerks already made plans with who knows how many other girls?"

Lizzie thought about it, then nodded.

"Izzie," Percy sighed. "If those boys already openly lied to you, and now they're trying to play you, they're obviously not worth your time. You're better than that."

"But-"

"No 'buts,'" Percy said firmly. "Forget about those guys. There're a hundred other guys at camp that are better than both of them combined."

Lizzie sighed again. "I guess you're right."

"Of course I'm right," Percy nodded. "Big brothers are always right. Now, what did you say those guys' names were?"

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The next afternoon, Logan and Axl both showed up to swordfighting class extremely on edge, and neither of them would say a word about it, although they kept shooting nervous glances at Percy.

After class, they came up to Lizzie with their heads down.

"Elizabeth, I'm sorry we didn't sit with you last night," Axl started, not making eye contact and running his fingers through his perfectly styled curly brown hair.

"I'm really sorry too," Logan added, fidgeting, making minimal eye contact with his perfect sapphire eyes. "Could we make it up to you somehow? We cancelled the plans with the other girls, so would you please sit with us tonight? You'd be the only one, I swear."

Lizzie could see the other girls looking at her enviously. Axl and Logan were two of the hottest guys at camp, and they both wanted to hang out with her!

But, she gave them a second look and, remembering what Percy had said last night, came to the conclusion that their personalities weren't as nice as their faces.

"Sorry guys," she answered, and their gorgeous faces fell. "Maybe some other time. I've already got plans."

"Are you sure?" Axl asked, nervousness showing in his violet-colored eyes. "Really, it'd just be you!"

Lizzie nodded firmly. "It's a no."

Logan sighed. "Okay Elizabeth, but we're still really sorry. If you change your mind..."

"I'll let you know," she smiled. "Have a nice day."

The boys turned and walked away, and Lizzie could almost swear they shot a nervous glance at Percy on their way out.

_Huh, _she thought._ Big brothers can really pull some strings._

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A few days later, after several nights of lying awake listening to Percy snore, Lizzie had had enough. She got up in the middle of the night and walked over to the sink, then turned it on. She bent the water to her will, dragging the rope of water with her through the air over to Percy's bed. She let the water build up, and when she had a sphere the size of a basketball, she dropped it on Percy's face mid-snore.

He immediately shot upright, gagging and sputtering.

"Wh-what the-"

She used her powers to turn the sink off, then reached out and thumped him on the head with her fist.

"Percy, stop snoring!" she scolded, while he coughed up some more water.

"Huh?"

"I haven't gotten any sleep all week because of you!" she said exasperatedly.

"You think that's bad?" Percy asked, his lungs finally clear. "I haven't gotten a hot shower all week- thanks to you! How hard would it be to take a shower under 45 minutes? And don't you roll your eyes at me!"

"Don't tell me what to do! How about you put the toilet seat down once in a while?" she countered, suddenly angry. "How hard is that? I've fallen in six times already, and that really sucks!"

"Do you think you could play your music just a little bit louder during free period?" he asked sarcastically as he stood up, now fully awake. He was a good four inches taller than Lizzie, and he towered over her. "I don't think you completely destroyed my hearing yet. Besides, I love One Direction!"

"Why can't you keep your half of the cabin clean?" she retorted, growing even more irritated. "Just pick up your clothes and stick them in the laundry basket; it's that easy!"

"Why not keep your shoes under the bed?" Percy shot back. "I've tripped over about a hundred pairs of boots this week, not to mention that stepping on a high heel feels like stepping on a Lego!"

"You used my toothbrush!" Lizzie accused.

"On accident! And you talk in your sleep!" Percy exclaimed.

"Well, you never make your bed!" Lizzie shouted.

"You leave hair in the shower drain!" Percy yelled back.

"You use my conditioner!"

"Just that one time! And you're always tapping your fingers- it's annoying!"

"You're always popping your knuckles, sicko!"

"You chew your gum annoyingly!"

"I hate when you space out and ignore me!" Lizzie poked her brother in the chest, hard.

"You do that too!" Percy said indignantly, uncrossing his arms. "And I hate it when you sing off-key in the shower!"

"I hate how you whistle in the morning, it's so cheerful!"

"I hate how you're always making us late for roll call! Your hair looks fine in the morning!" Percy threw his hands in the air.

"At least I do my hair! Your stupid hair is as messy as this cabin!"

"You never listen when I'm trying to teach you stuff!"

"I don't need your help!" Lizzie yelled, stamping her foot.

"I hate it when you say that!"

"I hate it when you act stupid and say dumb things!"

"I hate when you lose your temper and yell at me for no reason!"

"I hate you!"

"I hate y-" Percy caught himself, as Lizzie realized what she said. They stood in silence for a moment, thinking about their tirade.

Lizzie immediately felt bad, because she spoke out of frustration, and didn't mean what she said. Percy looked a little hurt, which made Lizzie feel worse, and she felt involuntary tears well up in her eyes.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly, as her tears spilled over and fell down her cheeks. "I d-didn't m-mean it-"

She was cut off as Percy pulled her into a hug. She sniffled into his clean white t-shirt, breathing in his ocean scent while he rubbed her back comfortingly.

"It's okay, Izzie," he said softly, squeezing her tightly and rocking side to side. "I know you didn't. I didn't mean any of it either."

"Yes you did," Lizzie chided, still sniffling. "You're right, I'm super annoying to live with. But I grew up pretty much an only child, since Ryan went off to college when I was three. I haven't had any practice."

"It's not your fault," Percy said, still holding her. "I'll work on my roommate skills. I know I'm messy and irritating, and I'll keep the toilet seat down from now on, I promise."

Lizzie smiled and pulled away, and Percy reached out and brushed some stray tears off her face.

"Well, despite all that, you're the best brother I've ever had," Lizzie said, which made Percy grin and ruffle her hair.

"You're the best little sister I've ever had. But hey, it's late, Izzie," Percy pointed out. "We should probably get to sleep."

"Don't snore!" Lizzie warned, and Percy nodded and held up his hands in surrender.

"Alright, alright, no snoring," he promised, and she smiled. "G'night, Izzie, sweet dreams," he said, climbing back into his bed.

"'Night, Percy," she said, doing the same.

Just before she fell asleep, Lizzie let her mind wander. She smiled as she realized that she really did have the best brother ever, then she slipped off.

_Gcchhaaaaa..._

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As the weeks passed, Percy and Lizzie both became more considerate to each other. Some of the habits, they simply got used to. Lizzie slept with iPod earbuds in, since the snoring couldn't be helped, but she never fell in the toilet again. Lizzie still never cleaned the shower, but on the plus side, Percy never tripped over another heel. Other than a few minor details, they each stopped their annoying habits.

Both children of Poseidon realized that some things you jut have to get used to; some things you just have to accept and let slide, because in the end, your family is the most important thing. Lizzie had just found hers at Camp Half-Blood, and she wasn't going to let the little things mess it up.

She wasn't going to let it go for the world.

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**A/N**

**Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it:) Sorry for the late update- I was on vacation where I didn't have access to a computer or Internet, and when I got home I caught a terrible case of the flu:P! I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!**

**The demigod submission form can still be found in Chapter 1, and I am still accepting submissions that are PM'd to me, although I have quite a few and it will probably be a while before I get yours up. I accept all submissions that follow the guidelines!**

**To everyone who put their submissions in the reviews: You do not get a story, unless you resubmit it in a PM, and that is final.**

**Also, I need you to answer a question for me in the reviews please!:)**

**1. Should I give each character its own story, like posting a new story, or is it good how it is with each character getting a chapter posted in this story?**

**Anyway, thanks for reading! Please REVIEW and or follow and or favorite!**

**I hope you liked the story!:)**

**Xoxoxo**

**EmMarie**


	10. Elspeth Isis: Daughter of Mania

**A/N**

**This story is for whovian-halfbloods, who owns Elspeth Isis. I hope I did a good job for you! Elspeth was a little tricky to write about.**

**I might as well put a little warning: this has character injuries, and kind of a dark theme. Anyone over 10 can read it with no problem:)**

**Also, this is the first one I wrote in first person. Tell me what you think!**

**I hope you enjoy!**

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_I can't believe I'm stuck with these idiots,_ I thought for the hundredth time today. I stared moodily around the Hermes cabin as the campers inside ran around loudly, stealing each other's things, setting up traps, and generally annoying everyone possible.

You could probably assume that I would feel at home in the chaos, being a daughter of Mania, the goddess of madness. After a year at camp and living with the children of Hermes, I should feel accustomed to it, but I don't.

I feel restless.

I was already making quiet mischief around the cabin without the other demigods knowing; making Jennifer think that McKayla had stolen her hairbrush, making Jeffery think that he had already changed into his daily outfit even though he was wearing pajamas, and causing little distractions while I stole small necessary items, like toothpaste and left shoes.

Being a child of Mania, I have learned to use my special gifts. I can get inside people's minds, and make them see or hear things that aren't really there. Illusions are a specialty of mine. Think you can trust your senses? Think again. I usually get in trouble when I create big illusions, so most of the time I have to settle for making little mischief.

But little mischief gets boring very quickly. I need chaos! Not stupid chaos, like Travis and Connor Stoll running around the cabin spraying silly string, chaos like...

I smiled very slowly, as the wonderful idea started to formulate in my mind. I immediately stopped all the other illusions I was maintaining; Jennifer, McKayla, and Jeffery snapped back to normal.

I zeroed in on the Stoll brothers and had to stifle a giggle. They had no idea what was coming...

"Hey, Travis, Connor!" I yelled at them, and they turned to face me. We had never really gotten along, heck, I've never really gotten along with anyone, but they answered me cheerfully.

"S'up, kid?" Travis asked. My lips pursed in annoyance. Being 13 did not make me a kid. Whatever.

I quickly wiped the frown off my face and changed it into a sweet smile.

"D'you guys wanna take a walk with me?" I asked, using my most innocent voice.

"Uh, not really..." Connor started to answer, then trailed off. His eyes glazed over as he stared into my amethyst eyes. He slowly changed his tone, as he said, "What was I saying? Of course we'll come, if that's what you want."

"Very much so," I nodded, satisfied. "Come with me."

I led the mystified boys out of the cabin and started walking briskly in the cool air.

"Where are we going?" one of the guys asked. I didn't bother to check who, since I didn't really care, but I answered them anyway.

"The arena."

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When we reached the arena, for some reason I was getting very tired. I looked at the Stoll brothers, who both had blank expressions on their faces, and I realized why. It's harder to create illusions on multiple people, and this was going to be a really big illusion. I decided that I only needed one of them to be under my influence, and dropped my power from Travis.

He blinked a few times then looked around. "How did I get here?"

I walked to the weapons shed, but found it locked. No problem for me, I had learned a few tricks from the Hermes kids, and being a daughter of Chaos helped too. I picked the padlock in 3 seconds flat, and the shed fell open. I selected two very sharp swords, and went back to the Stolls.

"One for you and one for you," I said, placing a weapon in each brothers' hand.

Travis gave me a confused look. "What're these for?"

"Connor knows, don't you Connor?" I said, turning to the younger Stoll. I quickly conjured up some intense false memories, which I planted in his mind: Last summer, during the Titan war, Travis shaking Connor's shoulders trying to convince him to change sides; Then Travis standing beside Kronos on the Williamsburg bridge; Travis attempting to stab Percy in the back but hitting Annabeth instead; Travis viciously sword-fighting other campers; and just an hour ago, Travis stumbling back into camp, begging forgiveness.

Of course, none of that is true. I just want them to fight. Oh, this was going to be fun- brother against brother; one a loyal camper, the other a "traitor."

Connor's eyes widened as he looked at his bewildered brother. "H-how could you?" he demanded, at which Travis took a step back.

"Huh?" The older Stoll asked, getting a little nervous at his little brother's tone.

"How could you betray us?!" Connor shouted now, his grip tightening on the hilt of his sword.

I smiled and took a step back, not wanting to be in the way when Connor finally lashed out. I slowly fed him some more fake memories and images: now, in Connor's mind, Travis sported a scythe tattoo on his forearm- the symbol of Kronos. He also had a scar on his right cheek, and Connor "remembered" that it had been given to him by one of his siblings, before they were struck down by Travis.

I could tell that Connor was outraged. Any moment now, the real entertainment would begin...

"I hate you!" Connor shouted, and stabbed at his brother with his sword.

Travis barely blocked the blow in time, and he looked shocked. "Con, what's gotten into you? It's me, Travis!"

"I know who you are, traitor!" Connor yelled again, taking a swipe at Travis. This time, whether from shock or from Travis not being as skilled a swordsman as his brother, Connor landed a small blow.

His sword cut Travis just above his right hand, which caused the older Stoll to cry out and jump away.

"Connor!" Travis yelled, now angry. Perfect. "What the heck do you think you're doing?"

"I could ask you the same question!" Connor spat back. "Why are you even here? Who said you were allowed back here?"

Travis's voice softened a little. "Please, bro, I don't know what you're talking about! What's the matter with you?"

Connor didn't answer. Instead, he lunged forward, stabbing at his brother's chest. Travis desperately kept parrying and dodging, but had yet to go on the offensive.

I started to get a little annoyed with Travis. Why won't he fight back? Come on! Maybe if Connor attacked him a little more...

I intensified Connor's illusions. Now, Travis's form flickered in and out, so sometimes it looked like him and sometimes it looked like a monster. Not any monster in particular, I was feeling too lazy to conjure up an actual mythological monster. No, it was just a dark, hulking shape, with long claws, red eyes, and sharp teeth.

Connor gasped and fell to his knees, clutching his head. Oops. Maybe I shouldn't have done that. Some people have a high tolerance for getting their brain messed up; others don't. I suppose I might have taken it too far with Connor... Oh well. Nothing I can do now.

Actually, I could just stop screwing with his mind, and he would go back to normal... Nawh.

Travis rushed to his brother's side, looking panicked. "Connor! Con, what's wrong?"

Connor looked up at his big brother and let out a small whimper, then shook his head and shut his eyes tightly, scrambling away.

"Connor, what's the matter? Bro, you're really scaring me!" Travis pleaded.

I delved into the madness of Connor's mind once again. It was like walking down a hallway in a funhouse, but it was full of disjointed memories; some fuzzy, some clear, all of them involving Travis. His mind had morphed the random monster I had made into something truly terrifying, and even I winced at his image. I couldn't begin to describe it, but let me try. Do you remember that one really scary dream you had as a little kid? The nightmare that you can barely remember, you just know it was dark, scary, and you were alone, but maybe you can remember the creature that was there. It had glowing red eyes, didn't it?

Anyway, that fearsome monster in Connor's mind was only part of his problem. He was torn between wanting to go back to normal and pull a prank on someone, and wanting to kill his brother- no, the traitor!

I withdrew from his mind, extremely impressed with myself. I haven't made such a good illusion in a long time, the last one I can remember... Well, it didn't end well. I didn't mean for my granddad to get hurt, but the next thing I knew, I was at his funeral.

Oh well.

Don't get me wrong, I loved my granddad. But it was kind of a win-win for me, because I got to leave Scotland and come to Camp Half-Blood, which I've always wanted to do. Although, his death might have had something to do with the fact that my mother is also the goddess of death. Wow, that just occurred to me. Cool.

By now, you probably think I'm heartless, don't you? I'm not heartless, I just think that when earth gets too calm and orderly, someone needs to come along and mess things up, big time. I'm not evil, I'm misunderstood.

But isn't that what they all say?

Maybe I am crazy.

Except I'm not.

I am the daughter of insanity itself.

I realized I was spacing out, so I turned my attention back to the fight. Travis is still trying to get close to Connor, and Connor is looking very frustrated. He's breathing heavily and trying to sort out fact from fiction in his own mind. His normally green eyes have a hint of amethyst in them- that's the mark of Mania showing through, and his hair is shimmering and wavering like mine- also the mark of Mania.

"Connor, calm down," Travis said soothingly. He had dropped his sword a few feet away, but Connor was still clinging to his.

Connor's eyes opened wide as his eyes couldn't decide if they were seeing a threatening monster or his best friend. His survival instincts kicked on though, and he reached up and punched Travis square on the jaw.

Connor stood up quickly like a cornered animal, and ran towards Travis, tackling him around his waist. Travis looked terrified as he pushed his brother off of him. He ran over to grab his sword again, scraping his knees as he ducked under Connor's sword.

_This is crazy. Why am I doing this? _I think to myself, my conscience poking out for a breath of fresh air. _Oh yeah, because this is crazy, _I grinned. I shoved my conscience back into it's dark hole.

For the next several minutes, Connor attacked his brother viciously, and even though Travis was trying to block and parry, he was definitely getting tired, and his tiredness was translating into more and more injuries for him.

His shirt and jeans had numerous small cuts and slashes, and he was bleeding from each one. He didn't seem to notice though, as his main focus was trying to get Connor to see reason.

"No, Connor, please, put the sword down!" Travis begged again, but by now Connor couldn't hear him. He could barely even see him, because now what he saw was mainly the monster, which flickered into a fuzzy Travis every now and then.

They were in a standoff position now, the brothers locking eyes, circling each other.

Then, Travis did the dumbest thing imaginable, and I face-palmed myself for him.

"Connor, stop. I'm not going to hurt you." Travis then dropped his sword and held his hands in the air, and took a step forward.

You can only imagine what Connor saw. He saw the monster throw down a basilisk, then rear up on its hind legs and raise its claws to rake through him. Connor did what any sensible demigod would do in that situation.

He stabbed the monster in the stomach.

Travis gasped sharply as Connor yanked the sword out of his abdomen. For a split second, Connor saw his injured brother fall to the ground, but the image was soon replaced with one of a partially slain monster.

Travis was clutching his stomach, gasping for breath, as Connor stood over him, still gripping his sword tightly.

"C-c-Connor, n-no," Travis managed to stammer, as his brother slowly raised his sword.

Now, again, don't get me wrong. It's not like I hate Travis or Connor. I admit, I should have done something about now. I also admit that letting Travis get stabbed may have been going too far. But at that time, I was so caught up in the moment that I just didn't think to move.

Luckily, someone else did.

An arrow came flying from the door of the arena, and it hit Connor's sword blade with such force, it knocked it halfway across the room.

I whipped my head around to see Chiron, holding a bow, and with him were a few Apollo campers, all looking shocked at the scene. Chiron seemed to realize what was happening as soon as he saw Connor's unusually psychedelic curly orange hair and green eyes.

He looked at me, outraged.

"Elspeth Isis, stop your trickery this instant!" he ordered in a powerful voice.

Yes, I was scared of Chiron, so of course I immediately lifted the illusion from Connor, though I was sad to do so. It was the best one I've ever conjured. Hmph. I guess now I can study it's aftereffects.

I watched Connor closely, as the Apollo demigods ran to help Travis. Connor blinked a few times, then slowly looked around the room. I couldn't tell whether or not he remembered what just happened until he looked at Travis, still bleeding, on the ground, then looked at his bloodstained blade.

He gasped and dropped his sword as if he had been burned, then staggered backwards until he slammed into the wall. He slid down the wall, clutching his head, shaking, and whimpering words that I couldn't make out. Interesting. I think he might be hyperventilating.

Then he starts sobbing.

I take in a shallow, sharp breath, because for some reason, Connor's first sob pierced me like his sword.

Remember that analogy I gave you about the nightmare you had as a kid? Well, here's another one like it.

Have you ever heard a child cry because they lost their favorite stuffed animal? It's one of the saddest sounds in the world- the kid feels alone without their Teddy bear, maybe they feel guilty because they left poor Teddy all alone somewhere they shouldn't have, and the kid is most of all sad, because they miss that toy like there's no tomorrow.

It sounds broken.

_Connor _sounds broken.

Now I'm in shock. I broke my plaything. I accidentally untwisted the string from around the yo-yo's center, and when I let it fly from my hand the wooden part spiraled into the ground and snapped in half.

I'm still analyzing Connor, because it's like watching a train wreck- you just can't peel your eyes away. I've lifted my illusions, but his own are taking over. I can just see it- he's confused and terrified and overwhelmed, and he's rifling through every single one of his memories, trying to sort out the lies from the truths.

This is the closest to guilty I have ever felt in my entire life. I wish I didn't always have to need things to be messy, why can't I just let the universe keep it's room clean from time to time? What's wrong with me?

I snap back to reality as I hear both Stoll brothers gasping for air. I shut my eyes as tightly as I can and pray to all the gods I know that the boys will be alright. Please...

I open my eyes again and see the ragged rivers flowing down Connor's cheeks, and hear him choking on his sobs. He's shaking violently, and struggling to breathe.

I can't do this. I'm done. I've learned my lesson.

I think Chiron can sense this as he approaches me, maybe some of the shock and horror even shows on my face.

"Elspeth," he states, and my name is it's own sentence. I don't have the energy to come back with a sarcastic remark. I just nod, feeling a lump in my throat, and I follow Chiron as he leads me towards the door. We're probably going to the Big House for a talk.

I pass Travis first, and I force myself to look at him. I feel so sick. There's a pool of blood forming around him, and he's not moving. He's ghostly pale, and the four Apollo children that are supposed to be good at healing look overwhelmed.

We pass Connor next, who is still hyperventilating, shaking, and sobbing. As they try and get him to lie down, he curls into a tight ball. I hear a demigod say something about him going into shock.

I'm going to have to make this right somehow.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXX

I was right. I did get a lecture from Chiron, but I won't bore you with the details. Basically, he said no more toying with people. It's dangerous, you hurt people, blah blah blah. I promised I wouldn't, and I even crossed my heart to let him know I was sincere. Pshh.

A week has passed since "the incident," and this morning I heard that Travis is going to be okay, and he's getting out of the hospital ward. So hey, no harm no foul- _right?_

Apparently_ wrong_. The Hermes kids hate me so much now that I have to stay with Nico in the Hades cabin until they build me my own. He's no fun to mess with- my illusions don't affect him for some reason.

Therefore, I spend the next week looking for another target. I would have already struck my target, but I kept remembering one thing.

Connor.

He's still in the medical ward, even though Travis got out yesterday. He's still broken. I hear Apollo himself is going to come visit us later today to try and fix him. Rumor has it, if Apollo can't heal him, then Hermes is going to have to come down. Maybe to say goodbye?

I guess I do feel a little bad about that.

But who am I kidding? I can't be good forever. I see Percy and his sister Elizabeth on one side of the lake, splashing around. I suddenly got another very good idea.

I start to build up my new illusion, but then I stop when I sense someone staring at me.

Slowly, I turned around to see Chiron looking at me very sternly several yards away. I give him a sweet grin, and make a big show of crossing my heart, symbolizing the promise I made to him about being good.

Of course, I also crossed my fingers.

I turned back to the Poseidon siblings and smirked.

Did he honestly think I meant it when I said I'd stop screwing things up?

Probably not, since he's Chiron.

Here's the lesson I wanna teach you, kiddies: don't make promises you have no intention of keeping, and if you do, make sure you keep your fingers crossed so you don't get in trouble.

Of course, you're only in trouble if you get caught...

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But wait a minute. I feel another pair of eyes staring at me. My focus broke, and I turned again to face the interruption.

My breath caught in my throat.

_Travis._

He's sitting on the top of a hill, not too far away from me. He's looking at me, and I can just tell his eyes are filled with pain.

Something strange happened.

_I felt a tear roll gently down my cheek._

Why was he so sad? More importantly, why am I so sad? Actually, even _I'm _not that naive. He misses his brother._ I get it._**I GET IT! **Okay? Guilt doesn't bode well with me- my fatal flaw is apathy for goodness sakes! And if you need a quick English lesson- "apathy" is total indifference. I can't take this. **I cannot.**

I can't have fun with him right there. I'm going to take a break from this. No more ruining things for a while.

There's a time and place for everything.

Now is not the time.

Here is not the place.

Some things should not be destroyed.

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**A/N**

**So, how was it? Should I go back to the third person style, or did you like this? And how was the whole theme, did I do the daughter of Mania justice?**

**Anyway, here's some shameless self-promotion: I'm going to post a very short oneshot about Annabeth soon, so check it out!:)**

**Also, due to the overwhelming amount of submissions I've received, if your character doesn't have an interesting story to tell, I will either move them back or write a very short story, unless inspiration strikes me! Keep submitting though- if you have an interesting character they will get their story done quicker! I will keep doing ALL submissions as long as they follow the guidelines:) **

_**SUBMIT MORE BOYS!**_

**You have a better chance of getting your story quicker if you write a good Characters to Interact With ad How section, or give them an interesting history. If you don't, you're probably going to get a very short oneshot.**

**So in conclusion, please REVIEW, follow, or favorite this story or me:)**

**Thanks for reading!:) This story has gotten over 1,500 views!:O Love you all!:)**

**Xoxoxo,**

**EmMarie**


	11. Liggy Lent: Daughter of Iris

**This oneshot is for ShimmeringDaisyFace, who owns Liggy Lent:) I hope you enjoy!:)**

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Take my word for it: spending the day hiding is not fun.

You're constantly looking over your shoulder, when you squeeze yourself into tight hiding places you start to cramp up, and after a while you get really paranoid.

What am I hiding from? No, it's _who_ am I hiding from. Well, there's this guy-

"Liggy!"

"Ahh!" I screamed, falling out of the tree I had been perched on. Luckily for me, the person who had startled me caught me. Unluckily for me, that person happened to be Axl Moretti.

"Liggy, you don't have to throw yourself at me, of course I'll go out with you!" Axl beamed, staring into my blue-green eyes with his gorgeous amethyst ones.

"Ew, put me down, you creeper!" I yelled, squirming around and thumping his chest with my fists. He quickly set me down, probably because he didn't want me to hit him in the face and ruin his good looks.

"Whatever you want, Liggy," he said, brushing me off.

I smacked his hands away, since they were dangerously close to my rear end. "Don't touch me!"

He looked a little perturbed at being hit again, but his pout quickly disappeared. "Where have you been all day? I've been looking for you."

"Oh my gods, what do you want from me?" I asked exasperatedly. "And to answer your question, I've been hiding from you!"

An adorable puzzled look came on his face, and he ran his fingers through his dark wavy hair. "Why have you been avoiding me?" he asked in a puppy-dog tone.

I rolled my eyes, greatly exaggerating the gesture. His looks were the only thing he had going for him.

I guess I'd better explain. My name is Liggy Lent, I'm 14 and a half, and I'm a daughter of Iris. I've been at Camp Half-Blood for about a month and a half, and since the day I stepped foot across the boundary line, Axl has not left me alone. He somehow got it into his thick skull that I was in love with him.

That actually wouldn't be too far a stretch. Pretty much every other girl at camp is in love with him. That probably has something to do with the fact that he's charming, thoughtful, and _GORGEOUS. _Oh, and he's the son of Aphrodite. That probably helps.

"Because I still don't like you, dummy!" I exclaimed, backing away.

Axl, a year older than me, frowned, but then grinned, as if something had just dawned on him. "Oh, you're playing hard to get! No problem, sweetheart, two can play at this game," he said, giving me a flirtatious look.

I groaned. "You can't play hard to get, you're already hard to want!"

"Does that mean you'll go to the dance with me on Saturday?" he asked, as if he hadn't caught onto the insult. Actually, he probably hadn't.

"Not a chance!" I said firmly. He was referring to the upcoming annual Camp Half-Blood dance. I had never been to one, but from what Annabeth has told me, they're usually pretty fun.

"So I'll pick you up at 5?"

I pursed my lips. "No! And besides, I can walk there."

"Okay then, I'll meet you there!" he said enthusiastically.

"Get it through your thick skull," I said very slowly. "I'm. _Not_. Going. With. You. Right now, I'm going to the lake for swimming period. Goodbye!"

"Alright, see you!" he said cheerfully, as I walked away.

"Oh, and Liggy?" He called, and I turned around.

"Miss you already!" he said, blowing me a kiss.

My nose crinkled in response, and I growled and stomped back towards the lake.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A couple days later, I went to meet my best friend for a picnic in the strawberry fields, just after I had come back from a morning at archery with you-know-who.

"Leo, I can't take him anymore!" I said, crossing my arms and plopping down next to him on a picnic blanket. "He still won't leave me alone!"

Leo looked at me sympathetically and handed me a sandwich and piece of watermelon. "You know who you should talk to about that?"

"I'm not going to ask Piper for advice," I huffed, annoyed that he had even been brought her up.

"Come on," Leo said reasonably, handing me a bowl of potato salad and a plastic fork. "He's her brother, she might be able to talk some sense into him! And let's face it- she has a lot of experience in that."

I frowned and poured him a red solo cup of lemonade. "No. Out of the question. Moving on."

Leo sighed and fidgeted with some screws and pipe cleaners he had in his hands.

"Liggy, you can't just dislike someone for no reason," he pointed out.

"I have a reason!" I said indignantly. "She can charmspeak- I don't like being told what to do!"

"Has she ever deliberately used it against you?" Leo asked pointedly.

I glared at him. "Not yet. But she's a brat, it's just a matter of time!"

Leo rolled his eyes and set down the miniature chariot he had made. It rolled across the grass and disappeared over the hill. I was so fascinated by it that I didn't hear the footsteps approaching us from behind.

Suddenly, the world went black.

"Guess who!" A charming voice said from behind me. His voice was like a trigger, so I instinctively jabbed my elbow behind me. My elbow made contact with something soft, and I heard a satisfying "_Oomph!_" Axl's hands disappeared from over my eyes.

"Aw, Liggy, I know you didn't mean that," Axl said, squeezing himself between Leo and me. I poked him on the forehead with my plastic fork.

"Hey hey, watch the face!" Axl protested, scooting away from me and my pointy "weapon," squishing Leo in the process.

"Sorry, Mr. Vanity," I said sarcastically.

"You know, you could be Mrs. Vanity," he remarked, sending a wink in my direction. The nymphs in the strawberry field behind me swooned while some nearby demigod guys behind Leo pretended to puke. I joined the guys.

"In your dreams!" I shot back.

"Oh, but you already are in my dreams," Axl said, giving me a classic smolder.

"What do you want, Axl?" I asked, annoyed.

"I forgot to give this to you this morning!" he said, pulling a small black box out of his leather jacket and handing it to me.

I slowly opened the box, curious as to what it was.

I gasped.

Inside was a beautifully designed necklace, with multicolored stones set into it. Oh my gods, were those diamonds?

"They're real diamonds," Axl announced, confirming my thoughts. Stupid rich boy.

I looked at him suspiciously. "What's this for?"

He shrugged. "I like you a lot, Liggy. A whole lot. I thought maybe you could wear it tonight at the ball, for me?"

I pursed my lips. "Get outta here!" I snapped, setting the box down and poking him again with the fork, this time harder.

"Anything you say, Liggy," Axl said, quickly rising and backing away from the pointy plastic. "Just consider wearing it, you'll look beautiful!"

"Don't hold your breath," I muttered, rolling my eyes as he strolled away.

"Why don't you give him a chance?" Leo asked, watching him walk away.

Truthfully, I wanted to give him a chance. But he wouldn't know what he was getting into. I doubt he could comprehend our relationship- his skull is too thick, even though he_ is _really good-looking. I didn't say this out loud, though.

Instead, I scoffed. "He's so stuck up! All he cares about is his face and expensive clothes. Just like Piper."

Leo frowned. "Again with Piper, she's not like that. Maybe Axl isn't like that either. I've talked to him a couple times, he seems nice enough."

"Yeah right. Besides, I'd rather hang out with you than spend time with him," I confessed, leaning back on my elbows. "So are you going to the dance with anyone tonight?"

Leo sighed. "I'm not going at all."

"What? Why not?" I asked, sitting up straight. "I thought we were going together- as friends!"

"I have to help my siblings set traps for the hellhound that's been running around the woods," he explained, frowning. "That's why they're having the dance in the pavilion instead of the field, it's too dangerous. Besides," he added with a grin. "There's no way I wanted to wear a suit."

I smacked him lightly on the head. "Well, lucky you. This morning I found a gorgeous dress on my bed, my siblings think it must have been a gift from my mom, so I have to go so I can wear it. It's gonna be no fun without you, though."

Leo grinned and ruffled my curly brown hair. "Don't be silly, you'll have a great time, I promise."

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A few hours later, my brother Butch walked me into the pavilion, but once inside we went our separate ways. I was a little uncomfortable with the big crowd, so I scanned the group for some familiar faces.

I could see my friends Annabeth and Thalia on one side of the room, so I started walking towards them.

Then I spied Axl on the other side of the room, looking very dapper in a black Gucci tux and deep purple vest that set off his eyes. He was standing off to the side, looking kind of bored.

Our eyes met.

His jaw dropped.

I gave him a confused look and looked down at myself. My rainbow colored gown shimmered nicely, and I didn't see any obvious wrinkles or stains on the tulle. What was he staring at? I nervously smoothed back my curly hair, which I had left down.

Suddenly, I heard someone tapping a microphone through the speakers, and I turned towards the stage. Chiron was holding the mic, and he said, "Welcome, everyone, to the 247th annual Camp Half-Blood dance! I'd like to thank you all for your participation, and I'd like to start off the night with a ballroom dance competition!"

Half the demigods groaned, and half of them squealed with delight. In case you couldn't tell, the first half was the male population, and the second half was the girls.

"I have a few demigods here with me," Chiron gestured to three demigods standing to the side of the stage, and they waved. "These are some children of Agon, who have kindly volunteered to judge the competition. Everyone who wishes to participate, please find a partner. The judges will walk around the room, and if you feel a tap on your shoulder, it means you are out. The last couple standing wins a trophy and gets the week off of chores!"

At that, all the guys rushed to find a partner.

I heard someone clear their throat behind me, and I turned towards them.

_Ugh, _of course.

"What do you say, Liggy?" Axl asked smoothly, taking my hand and pulling me towards him. "Me and you?"

"No way, Moretti!" I retorted, and tried to pull my hand out of his grasp, but he tightened his grip.

"Ah, excellent!" Chiron said, coming up to us with his clipboard. "Axl Moretti and Liggy Lent, is it?"

"Yes, sir," Axl nodded politely, while I looked at him with disgust. Chiron nodded approvingly and walked away, marking our names down.

I glared up at Axl. "You better not step on my feet," I threatened.

He gave me his most charming smile, and it took all my willpower to not melt right there. "I wouldn't dream of it, darling. Besides, I'm an excellent dancer!"

I scoffed. "We'll see about that, pretty boy."

"So, you wore the necklace after all," Axl remarked, obviously pleased.

I stuck my tongue out at him. "Only because it matched my dress."

He grinned. "Imagine that," he said in a strange voice.

I was about to question him, but a dramatic song started playing, and Axl wrapped one arm around my waist and pulled me close.

I tried to pull away, but he just grinned and said, "If we're going to tango, we need to be a little closer, sweetheart."

I rolled my eyes and stepped towards him. "Don't call me sweetheart," I admonished, but he didn't seem to care. He just smiled and gently took my other hand.

We waltzed across the dance floor, easily gliding over the polished surface. I grudgingly acknowledged that Axl was right; he was an excellent dancer. He had perfect rhythm, and he was good at leading.

The judges quickly eliminated the bad dancers: Jason and Piper, Hazel and Frank, and Jake and Katie. They kept tapping the couples out, until Axl and I were one of the only couples left-_ not _that I would call us a couple.

I wasn't very familiar with the dance, but luckily Axl was. He kept whispering instructions in my ear, like "Half turn... Now heel-toe... And glide... Now spin then dip... Head snap! That's it."

I was sure I was blushing, but I ignored it and focused on the Tango. Finally, it was down to us and one other couple: Jared, a son of Apollo, and Victoria, a daughter of Terpsichore, muse of dance. I was sure we were going to lose, when suddenly Victoria pitched forward as if she had been pushed, and crashed into Jared. They both fell to the ground, and the demigod judge closest to them walked over and tapped them on the shoulder.

_Oh my gods, we won! _Ithought to myself. I looked up at Axl excitedly, but he hadn't noticed that we were the victors. He stared into my eyes, and I felt my knees go weak. I mentally kicked myself for letting his extreme attractiveness get to me, and I forced myself to look away from him.

"Liggy," he started quietly, still oblivious. "I want to tell you that I lo-"

I let go of his hands, and he looked puzzled as I pulled away.

"We won," I said pointedly, not meeting his eyes, as I gestured to Jared and Victoria, who were pouting on the floor.

"Oh, right," Axl said, and for the first time I saw him look flustered. "Yeah. Of course."

"You're a really good dancer," I remarked. "Thanks for not stepping on my feet."

"Yeah. You too," Axl said, nodding quickly.

"Well, it looks like we have our winners!" Chiron announced to the room, coming over and handing Axl a golden trophy, which he promptly handed to me. "Nice work you two, I haven't seen a proper Tango in a long time!"

"Thank you, sir," Axl beamed, regaining his composure. "We had a great time."

Chiron looked at me with raised eyebrows.

"Uh, actually, we did," I admitted, shrugging.

Axl grinned at my response, as Chiron walked away. I glanced around the room and saw Annabeth give me a thumbs up.

"I- I think I'm gonna go back to my cabin," I stammered to Axl, who immediately frowned.

"Why? What's the matter, we just won!" he said confusedly._ Why was he so cute when he was confused?!_

"I just have to go!" I exclaimed, picking up my dress's skirt and running out of the pavilion. I heard Axl call my name out, but I kept running towards my cabin.

I reached the cabin out of breath, and very confused. I kicked off my heels and headed for my bunk, promptly collapsing on it. Yes, I did like Axl. Why was I being so impossible?

Just kidding. I know why. It's because he doesn't deserve me, and I know it! I'm better than him. He's a petty, annoying brainless son of Aphrodite, that just happens to make my heart flutter every time I see him- ugh, no!

I groaned into my pillow. Maybe Leo was right, maybe I should give him a chance. I've always known my fatal flaw is arrogance, but that's not why I won't let Axl in, is it?

I sighed loudly. Yes it is.

But he's so impossible! He's obnoxious, ridiculous, an outrageous flirt, cocky, silly, charming, and... _Perfect. _He's just perfect.

I unclasped his necklace from around my neck and poured it onto my dresser. I lazily slipped out of my dress and into some comfortable pajamas, then flopped back onto my bed, crawling under the covers. I thought I would lie awake for a while, thinking, but almost immediately I slipped into a dream...

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_In the dream, I'm standing in the pavilion, and I hear the music start up. _

_I glance at the sea of demigods and I spy Axl and myself dancing together, me rather reluctantly._

_This is so weird._

_I see myself start to relax into his arms a little, and I now appreciate how good we look together._

_No, wait! I meant, how good we looked _dancing_ together. He's really good._

_At _dancing.

_I can see what's happening around the rest of the room now: Percy trying not to step on Annabeth's feet, Drew Tanaka trying to lead her partner, and Travis and Charlotte doing their best to dance on beat. One by one, I see them get tapped out._

_Finally, it's the big moment of the night. It's down to me and Axl and Jared and Victoria. Both couples are really into the music, so focused on the dance that-_

_Wait. Who is that?_

_I see a beautiful woman who wasn't there before standing between Axl and me and Jared and Victoria. _

_What is she doing?_

_I gasped. _

_She reached out and gently shoved Victoria into her partner, sending them both crashing to the ground._

_Axl and I have now won. But who was that lady? That didn't happen just a few hours ago._

_The strange, beautiful woman is walking towards me. She has long black hair- no, medium strawberry blonde hair- no, it's short and curly and auburn- what?_

_She leans towards me and whispers to me, "What's meant to be will always find a way, even if it needs a little push from the goddess of love."_

_She disappears with a wink._

_As my dream starts to fade, I look back and see Axl and I getting lost in each other's eyes._

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I sat straight up in bed. That's not what really happened, was it?

I slowly leaned back into my pillow. Was that a vision, then?

It couldn't have been.

Axl and I_ aren't _meant to be!

_Are we?_

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A week later I had forgotten about the dream and was examining my chore schedule.

"Really, patrol the meadow again?" I exclaimed to Leo, seeing my name next to the assignment. "That's the sixth time this month! Do they usually give easy chores to the newbies?"

"No," Leo said, confused. "Usually the newbies are cleaning the stables or picking up trash. You've got the easiest job of all today. Wanna switch?" he joked.

"No thanks," I laughed. "Polishing armor doesn't sound like much fun."

Leo grinned. "Alright, I'll see you in half an hour, it shouldn't take long for you to patrol the calmest hill in Camp Half-Blood."

"See ya, Valdez!" I called as I headed for my assigned hill on the farthest edge of camp.

The sun was jut starting to set, and it created a beautiful display of colors in the sky. I watched it, fascinated, as I reached my designated patrolling area.

Suddenly the ground fell out from under me, and I fell through open air. I screamed, trying to grab onto something, anything, before I landed in a mud puddle about 10 feet below me. Unfortunately, I held out my arms to brace my fall, and I landed hard on my left wrist.

I didn't hear a crack or anything, but my wrist definitely didn't feel right. I winced and cradled it to my stomach as I took in my surroundings. I was at the bottom of some sort of pit- it was dark and very muddy. I realized that I must have fallen into one of the traps they set for the hellhound that's been running around._ Uh oh._

"Help!" I called up through the ground. "Help me!"

No one answered.

After several more tries with the same results, I started to feel panicky.

I took a deep breath and tried to calm down. I tried to reassure myself that eventually people would come looking for me._ Right?_

I sighed and scooted myself back so I was leaning against the pit's wall. It was cold, so I pulled my jacket tighter around me, careful not to jostle my wrist. The mud was soaking through my jeans; pretty soon I'd be freezing. I tried not to think about that for now, I'd cross that bridge when I came to it.

I leaned my head against the wall and cursed myself for not paying attention to where I was going.

I must have dozed off, because the next time I opened my eyes, light was no longer filtering down through the hole I had made in the earth. It had started to rain, creating even more mud in the dark pit. My wrist was still throbbing, and I looked down to see that it had started swelling.

I could hear footsteps somewhere nearby, above me, and I felt a hopeful flutter in my chest. "Hey, help!" I called again. "I'm down here!"

The footsteps got closer. Huh. They sounded really heavy. I wonder who it is.

My question was answered almost immediately as a hellhound crashed through the air and landed in a heap five feet away from me. It caught my eye and growled menacingly.

I screamed as loud as I could and pressed myself against the dirt wall, trying to distance myself from the monster. I looked up the mud walls, seeing that I couldn't possible climb out with my injured wrist.

I fumbled for my sword,_ Arcus Infectorium_, which translates to "Killer Rainbow" in Latin. I was covered in mud, which made gripping the hilt difficult, but I managed to draw it.

The hellhound took a step towards me, and I let out another involuntary scream. I waved my sword in front of me, hoping it would step back, but the monster kept advancing.

I swiped at its right front leg and managed to hit it. It roared in response and snapped at me, so I rolled around it and ran to the other side of the pit.

The monster was huge, 10 feet tall, and I wouldn't be able to evade it for long. It turned around and pawed at me, hitting me on my sword hand and knocking my weapon away. I gulped and tried to press myself into the wall of the pit as the monster advanced towards me. I tried to dodge around it to get to my sword, but it growled and blocked my way.

The hellhound was now three feet in front of me, and it roared in my face. I turned my head to the side and shut my eyes tightly, fearing what would come next.

"Liggy!"

My eyes snapped open as I heard the cry above me. I watched in shock as Axl jumped into the pit and onto the monster's back, his sword drawn.

_Huh? _I didn't even know he had a sword!

Axl quickly drew the hellhound's attention away from me, and soon they were engaged in a vicious battle. The creature scratched Axl with its claws, but Axl kept fighting.

Suddenly, the hellhound swiped at Axl, and he reacted too slowly. One of its claws raked across his face, and Axl stumbled backwards with a hand to his cheek.

Axl pulled his hand away from his bleeding face, then rushed forward with his sword in front of him. He took one last stab at the monster, and it disintegrated into dust.

Axl was breathing hard, bleeding from several other scratches, and covered in mud.

He'd never looked more attractive.

"Liggy! Oh gods, are you alright?" he asked, rushing over to me and looking me up and down. "I was worried sick!"

"A-Axl, y-you just," I stammered, completely in shock, as he wiped his bloody cheek with the back of his hand.

"Never mind that, what happened to you?" he asked, gently reaching for my injured hand and inspecting it.

I winced, and he let go. "I landed on it when I fell in," I explained.

"I'm going to go get a ladder, I'll be right back," he said, and I noticed that he had tied a rope to something above ground and one end was dangling down through the hole above us. Axl went over to it and quickly climbed it.

Still in shock here. Not once did he comment or complain about the mud all over him. Not once did he mention his injuries. All he cared about was me. Why? Also, I didn't even know he could do anything athletic, much less climb a rope or fight off a hellhound!

I didn't have time to think about any of that, though. Moments later, Axl returned with a ladder and a reinforcement.

As soon as I had climbed out of the pit, I was pulled into a rib-crushing hug from Leo.

"Oh gods, Liggy, I'm so sorry!" he burst out, squeezing me tightly. "I should've told you not to be careful back here, I didn't know you'd fall into it!"

"It's okay, Leo!" I said, struggling to breathe. "I'm okay. You can stop squeezing me to death now!"

"Oh, sorry," Leo said, pulling away and holding me at an arm's length. "But it's a good thing Axl was looking out for you. No one else got nervous when you were a little late reporting back, but he just charged into the woods, saying he_ 'just had a feeling.'"_

I looked over at Axl, still amazed. The cut on his cheekbone was still bleeding, and it would probably leave a scar.

"She's hurt," Axl pointed out, gesturing to my wrist. "We better get you looked at."

"Dude, we better get you looked at too," Leo remarked, glancing at the numerous scratches on Axl. "That must've been some hellhound."

Axl shrugged. "I guess so, it was my first one."

"You don't say," Leo laughed sarcastically. "Come on, let's get you both cleaned up. You don't wanna look like mud monsters and scare the whole camp."

Axl looked down at himself and blushed. "Oh, right."

I smirked. This was probably the dirtiest he's ever been in his entire life. But I suppose he's taking it well.

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Several days later, I was trying to forget the whole incident. My wrist had healed quickly with the help of some Apollo campers and ambrosia. Now, I was sitting on the bleachers of the arena talking with Annabeth, when Axl walked up.

"Hey guys!" he greeted, flashing us both a big smile. I could swear I saw Annabeth blush.

"What do you want now?" I sighed, not in the mood to put up with him today. I observed that the cut on his cheekbone did in fact leave a scar. It didn't ruin his face though; if anything, it made him cuter. It made him look brave and heroic, which technically he was.

"I was just coming over to check on you," he said sweetly. "Are you feeling alright?"

My heart melted a little, and by the quiet, high-pitched _"aww," _Annabeth let out, I think her heart did too. It's not that she had a crush on Axl, she loved Percy too much, it was just that Axl had that effect on everybody. He's too darn charming.

"I'm fine, I just have a headache," I dismissed him.

"Maybe you should-"

"I don't need your opinion!" I snapped, and he looked taken aback.

"Oh, okay then," He said, looking embarrassed. "Sorry for bothering you. Catch you later. 'Bye, Annabeth."

"'Bye," Annabeth said, looking disappointed to see him go. She waved, while I huffed and turned away from him.

"You know, you should be a little nicer to Axl," Annabeth remarked, watching him walk away sadly. "He's done a lot for you."

"If you're talking about a couple days ago, I could've gotten away from that hellhound, I didn't need him to save me!" I protested, staring at his retreating figure. He had nice posture, which I've never noticed about him.

I'm not just talking about that," Annabeth said. "What about all the little stuff?"

"What little stuff?" I asked, confused.

"Huh? He hasn't said anything to you?" Annabeth asked.

"No, what stuff?" I persisted.

"Well, if he hasn't told you, I don't know if you're supposed to know..." she said hesitantly.

"What is it?" I demanded.

She sighed. "Well, for one, he's been looking at your chore schedule every day. Have you noticed you haven't had to take the trash out or clean the bathrooms once since you've been here?" I nodded. "It's because every time you get those jobs, Axl switches chores with you that day."

My mouth fell open. "He's been taking the trash out for me? And cleaning the bathrooms?"

Annabeth nodded pointedly.

"He's only doing it because he wants something," I insisted. "Children of Aphrodite aren't nice for no reason."

Annabeth frowned. "What do you have against children of Aphrodite?"

"They're all petty and shallow!" I exclaimed. "I'm much too reasonable to get along with them."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Here, how about this one: didn't you wonder where your ball dress came from?"

"It was from my mom!" I exclaimed, leaning away from her.

"No, it was from Axl," Annabeth said emphatically. "I caught him sneaking out of the Iris cabin. He was going to get in trouble for being in there, but he explained that he had bought you that ball gown and he wanted it to be a surprise. He made me promise not to tell."

"He was lying!" I protested, shocked. "There's_ no way _he bought that for me!"

Annabeth nodded. "He did."

"He just did that to show off how rich he is," I argued. "He wasn't being nice, I just know it!"

Annabeth sighed and stood up. "Fine, believe what you want, but I'm telling the truth, Liggy."

"I'll find out for myself!" I said, also rising, and running off to find Axl.

I was furious. Did he think I was so poor that I couldn't buy my own dress? Or did he think that I had such bad taste that I couldn't pick out a good enough dress? Why would he do that?! And the chores- he's just doing that so he can feel like I owe him! Well, guess what? I _don't_ owe him!

I saw him several yards away, leaning against a tree with his hands in his pockets. He looked up and met my eyes, then walked towards me with a grin.

"Hey, Liggy, guess what I-"

I slapped him, effectively cutting off whatever he was about to say.

His head jerked sharply to the side as my palm made contact with the cheek without the scar. He staggered backwards a few steps, almost tripping, as he brought his hand up to his face.

"What was that for?" he asked, bewildered.

"Take your pick!" I spat at him, and he gave me a confused look. Oh gods, that adorable confused look again.

"Look, Liggy, whatever I did, I'm sorry-" he started, but I cut him off again.

"Forget it, Axl, I don't wanna hear it!" I exclaimed, turning away from him. "Just stay away from me from now on, I don't wanna see you anymore!"

He grabbed my arm and spun me around to face him, "Yeah, well, I wanna see you! What's the problem?"

"What's _your_ problem?" I demanded. "I don't owe you anything!"

"What are you talking about?" he asked, bewildered. "You _don't _owe me anything!"

"Yeah, right, you _think_ I do!" I exclaimed. "But guess what? I never wanted anything from you. I didn't ask you to give me that necklace, or buy me that dress, or to be my dance partner, or take the trash out and clean the bathrooms for me, or save me from that hellhound, or-"

"Don't you get it, Liggy?" Axl interrupted. "I didn't do any of that so you would owe me, I did all that stuff because I love you._ I love you!"_

"You don't know what love is!" I said, raising my voice at him. "You can't just decide you're in love with someone. You're a child of Aphrodite, all you care about is looks and money!"

"No, you've got it all wrong!" Axl insisted. "Being a child of Aphrodite isn't about being vain, and loving expensive things, and having designer clothes, it's about knowing_ exactly _what love is!"

"But you_ don't!" _I protested. "You've got no idea!"

"Yes I do," Axl said passionately. "Love is when you'd rather make someone else happy instead of yourself. Love is when you fall for someone with everything you've got. It's getting lost in someone's eyes... It's cleaning the toilets and mopping the floor. It's when you get scared to death when you see them facing a hellhound, and you'd do anything to save them." He paused to take a quick breath while I stared at him, stunned. "It's something completely unexpected, not something planned. But mostly, it's that one day; _that one night_, after you dance a Tango with the most beautiful girl you've ever seen, and nothing else matters anymore."

I stared at him. Everything started to make sense. Maybe there was no hidden reason, no ulterior motives.

"It's when a guy like me falls for a girl who's way too good for him," he finished quietly.

Oh gods. I was wrong. I've been wrong this whole time. He said it. He just said it out loud, what I've been thinking this whole time.

But he's wrong. As much as it pains me to admit, it's _him _that's too good for _me_.

"Axl, I... I don't know what to say," I stammered, still reeling from his heartfelt soliloquy.

"Say you'll be mine?" he asked, grabbing my hand and cocking his head to the side, his curiously wavy hair falling perfectly in place.

I smiled, squeezing his hand gently.

"Of course."

He grinned widely and stared into my eyes. I don't think I've ever seen him this happy.

"Well, it's about time," someone said behind us.

We both turned to face a blinding flash of light, and after blinking several times, we saw Leo holding a huge old-fashioned camera. The snapshot printed out, and he took it and examined it.

"Uh huh, yep!" he said, pretending to evaluate it. "Yessiree, this is going on Chiron's bulletin board, fersure."

Axl laughed while I turned bright red. "Valdez, give that to me right now!" I demanded, holding out my hand for the photograph.

Leo chuckled and held it just out of reach. "Nope, this one's a keeper!"

Axl grabbed my arm as I tried to run after Leo and the picture. "No, this one is," he said cheekily, pulling me close to him and kissing me on the forehead.

I smiled and looked up into my boyfriend's eyes, then forgot about the photograph.

I didn't even care when Leo started to raise his camera as Axl pulled me into a Tango-style dip, placing both hands behind my waist while I gently placed my hand on his cheek, my thumb brushing his cute little scar.

The flash went off again right as he kissed me on the lips.

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**Aaaaannnnddddd, cut with the cute cheesy love story;D **

**How'd y'all like it?:)**

**Also, if you had trouble visualizing Liggy's dress, here's what I had in mind: :)**** . /tumblr_m9w7wvdUKj1r22jn4o1_ **

**And for the necklace: (Just imagine it has more colors) **** . **

**And finally, Axl looks something like this ;D : /pin/181903272421057692/**

**I hope you all liked it, it was fun for me to write after writing that last dark oneshot:) thanks for reading!**

**Still accepting submissions, the form can be found in chapter one, just PM it to me:) If you submit in the reviews, you do not get a story.**

**Also, check out my other oneshot about Annabeth!:)**

**Please review, and or follow, and or favorite!**

**Thanks again for reading, love y'all!:)**

**Xoxoxo,**

**EmMarie**


	12. Lee Majoko: Son of Nyx- ChristmasEdition

**A/N**

**This special edition Christmas oneshot is for Ena Daughter of Nyx, and her sister, who again own Ena Collins, and Lee Majoko!**

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Ena and Leo were rattling around in the backseat of an old Ford pickup truck, with Percy at the wheel. They had driven all night long on their way back from a quest, and now they were nearly at their destination.

"How're you guys holding up?" Percy asked, glancing at them in the rearview mirror.

"I'll probably need some major surgery when we get back, because I think my brain's been shaken loose," Leo answered, which made Percy roll his eyes. "But other than that, we're good!"

"Maybe you can fix the rattling," Percy told him, glancing at the dashboard. "We're gonna need to stop for gas in a few minutes anyway."

"Do we have enough money left?" Ena asked worriedly.

"I'll pay what we have, but we'll probably have to use the ring," Percy said, almost apologetically. When Ena started to protest, he said, "I don't like stealing any more than you do, but we need to get back to camp."

Ena sighed. "Fine, but I don't want to be the one to steal it!"

Percy nodded. "I'll do it, I don't want you guys to get in trouble. You two just go into the gas station and distract the cashier so they don't notice the floating gas cans," he said, pulling into a parking space in front of the station.

"Here," Ena leaned over and handed Percy a small cardboard box, which contained the ring.

They all hopped out of the truck. Percy got two red five gallon containers out of the trunk, then slipped on the ring and disappeared. Leo and Ena pushed the door of the gas station open and shuffled towards the counter, trying not to look suspicious. Of course, that made them look very suspicious.

"Can I help you?" the young cashier said, annoyed.

Ena had never been a good liar, and Leo was even worse. They weren't going to be able to distract him with words, so instead, Ena leaned across the counter and stared directly into the cashier's eyes.

He became hypnotized instantly.

Leo grinned and squeezed Ena's hand quickly. Her being a daughter of Nyx, she had the power to hypnotize people with her eyes. To help, Leo kept watch to make sure no customers came in, but it didn't look like there was much chance of that. The only activity by the gas stations were the two floating gas cans emptying themselves into the tank of their car. The group had acquired the truck after they scoured several junk yards until they found a car that still had an engine in it, and Leo had fixed it up. In it, they drove all the way to Louisiana to complete Ena's quest.

Seven days ago, Ena had been issued her first official quest- to find the long-lost Ring of Gyges, which turns the wearer invisible. She had been nervous at first when she heard the prophecy, and was afraid of what it might mean:

_Journey south and help the weak _

_In a muddy swamp with no sun._

_Darkness envelopes those who cannot see- the ring appears only to one. _

_To rescue from darkness, when the curse is undone,_

_And once you've succeeded_

_You'll find your journey has only begun._

The prophecy had turned out to be bad news for Leo and Percy, but that was another story. Ena had initially chosen Mitchell and Lacy to go with her, but they backed out when they heard the line about the muddy swamp. So, Ena had instead chosen Leo, because he was another one of her best friends, not to mention her boyfriend, and she had chosen Percy because of his experience, and he readily agreed to accompany them.

It took several days of traipsing through a boggy marsh, but they had succeeded. Ena was very proud of herself, and was glad to have had such great demigods by her side the whole time.

"Leo, I've got this," Ena said, not breaking eye contact with the cashier. "Why don't you try and work on the truck some more? Maybe you can stop it from rattling."

"I'm on it," Leo said, heading for the door.

A few minutes later, they were back on the road to Camp Half-Blood.

"Did you leave the money in there?" Percy asked them as he shifted the car into gear.

"Yes, I put in on the counter," Ena said. "Even though it didn't even cover half of it."

Percy shrugged. "What can we do? Maybe we'll drive out here after Christmas and pay them back," he suggested thoughtfully.

Ena grinned. "Oh, can we? I hate to think that we stole their gas, even though this is an emergency."

"Why not?" Leo said. "It's Christmas."

"T'is the season," Percy added.

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Percy drove up the road into Camp Half-Blood that the strawberry van used, and parked next to the big house.

"Well, that wasn't so bad," Ena remarked optimistically as she hopped out of the truck.

The boys both groaned. "Seriously, Ena?" Leo asked rubbing his previously injured knee, while Percy rolled his injured shoulder slightly resentfully. "Well, that's what I love about you. Daughter of darkness- always lookin' on the bright side."

Ena giggled as the trio walked up the porch steps and into the big house. Immediately, Percy was knocked down with a hug from a familiar curly blonde-haired girl.

"Seaweed Brain!" Annabeth said happily, placing her hands on both sides of his face and giving him a kiss, which he easily returned.

"I missed you, Percy," she said when they broke apart, as she reached up to trace the scratches on his face lightly with her finger.

"I missed you more, Wise Girl," he said, his eyes sparkling, taking in every inch of her face.

"Ahem," Dionysus cleared his throat in front of them, and the couple pulled away from each other, though Percy secretly slipped his hand down and laced his fingers through Annabeth's.

"Well, well, it looks like the zeroes have returned. This way, Miss Emma," Dionysus said lazily to Ena, whose smile faltered for a moment but she managed not to roll her eyes as the group followed him to his office.

"It's Ena," Leo spoke up, because he couldn't stand rude people, even if they were a god. "Long 'E,' then 'Nuh.' Not so hard."

Dionysus stopped in his tracks, causing Percy, who wasn't watching where he was going because he was talking quietly to Annabeth, to bump into his back.

"Excuse me?" The god said, turning to face Leo. "Leroy is it? That's a good name for a dog." then he turned back around as if Leo had never said anything.

Leo opened his mouth to answer back, but Ena put her hand on his shoulder and gave him a pointed look. He sighed, and followed the group down the hall.

Chiron was waiting for them, sitting behind a large desk. Behind him was a large bulletin board filled with photographs of demigods at camp. Ena quickly spotted her favorite one; a picture of her standing outside the Nyx cabin with Nico, Percy, Leo, Annabeth, Mitchell, and Lacy, which had been taken right after they finished building the said cabin.

"The children are back," Dionysus pointed out to Chiron, jerking his head in their general direction. Chiron raised his eyebrows at him, then gestured for the demigods to sit on the bench in front of his desk.

"Ah, we've been expecting you," Chiron said. "Annabeth thought you might be back soon, she's been waiting here for a few minutes," he said, folding his hands on his desk. "So I take it that the quest was successful?"

Ena grinned and pushed the small cardboard box across the desk, which Chiron opened then smiled.

"Congratulations, Ena!" he said sincerely. "And excellent work, Leo and Percy. Now, why don't you tell me how it went?"

Ena spent the next half hour recounting their quest, and when she had finished Chiron looked very impressed.

"Wonderful. That must have been quite an adventure," he remarked, to which Leo and Percy gave over-exaggerated nods.

"Oh, before I forget, Ena," he added, as if he had just remembered something. "A new demigod arrived the day after you left for your quest."

Ena raised her eyebrows as Annabeth sniffed disdainfully. "Uh, and?"

Chiron smiled. "I'm sure you'll want to meet him. He's probably still sleeping in the Nyx cabin. Nobody's up yet, so you should all go back to your cabins for an hour or two of sleep anyway."

Ena sat up straighter. "What's a boy doing in my cabin?"

"Yeah," Leo said protectively. "Isn't that against the rules?"

Annabeth giggled, and the other three demigods looked at her quizzically.

"Not in this case," she said, grinning.

"I'm going over there right away!" Ena said, jumping up. After saying goodbye to the group, and giving Leo a quick peck on the cheek, she raced off towards her cabin.

She reached the door and opened it slowly to peek inside. She saw a boy about her age fast asleep on the bunk next to hers.

Ena crept over to the still form and reached out to shake him awake.

_"Boo!"_

"Ahh!" Ena screamed, stumbling backwards, as the boy sat up quickly in bed.

"Oh, uh, sorry," Ena said, her heart beating quickly, while the boy snickered. "I didn't know you were awake. Wait, why am_ I _apologizing to _you_? What are you doing in here?"

The boy yawned and swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up, stretching. "Ugh, it's the morning," he remarked, frowning up at the skylight in the room.

Ena picked up the remote control on her nightstand and pressed a button. Immediately, a curtain drew across the ceiling, blocking the sunbeams.

"Much better," the boy grinned. "I'm Lee. You must be Ena, my sister."

Ena's jaw dropped. "You mean, your mom is Nyx too?"

Lee nodded. "Apparently."

Ena squealed and ran forward to throw her arms around Lee. "Oh my gosh, yay!" she exclaimed, squeezing him tightly. "I get a brother! We can share the cabin! We can do stuff together! Yay!"

Lee grinned. "I've never had a little sister before."

Ena frowned at him. "Who says you're older?"

"Well, aren't I?" Lee said quizzically. "I just turned 16. And you?"

"Same here," Ena said, examining him closely. "When's your birthday?"

"December 3rd."

Ena's jaw dropped again. "Mine too!"

Lee's brow furrowed. "Say what now?"

"Where are you from?" Ena asked, now completely intrigued. After studying him further, she noticed some striking similarities between the two of them. Demigod siblings didn't usually bear resemblance to each other, but Ena thought she and Lee looked extraordinarily alike. He had the same dark brown hair, the same icy blue eyes, and he was only about 5"3, an inch taller than she.

"Maui, in Hawaii," he answered, frowning. "I took a plane here about a week ago, when my family and I were attacked by a hydra- is that what it's called?" Ena nodded. "Anyway, they sent me here to train, which is kind of a bummer, because I would've liked to spend Christmas with them."

"What did you say your last name was?" Ena questioned.

"I didn't, but it's Majoko. Lee Majoko."

Ena's brow furrowed. "I swear I've heard that name before. Or seen it somewhere. On a letter, maybe."

"Who sends letters anymore?" Lee snorted. "Oh wait, actually, my dad is kind of old fashioned. Once a month, he sends a hand-written letter to someone in the states."

"I'm calling my dad right now, this is crazy" Ena said, opening her dresser drawer. Demigods were usually strictly forbidden from using cell phones, but since Ena had to stay in contact with her father, and their calls were usually short, Chiron had given her permission to have one. Ena would have called her father sometime that day anyway, since it was Tuesday, and she always called him on Tuesdays.

"Dad?" she said, putting him on speaker phone when he picked up after three rings.

"Ena!" he exclaimed, and she could hear his smile through the phone. "How are you?"

"Good, but I need to ask you something," she said hurriedly. "Do you know anyone named Majoko?"

Dead silence.

"Dad?"

"Yeah, I'm here," he said slowly. "And yes, the Majokos are old friends of mine. Why?"

"Because their son showed up at camp, and he's a child of Nyx too!" she exclaimed.

"Really?" her father asked, and she could tell she had his full attention.

"Yes!" she said, glancing at Lee. "And get this: he has the same birthday as I do, and he looks just like me!"

Her father sighed. "Well, he_ is _your brother," he pointed out.

"Technically, half-brother," Ena corrected him, and she heard her father clear his throat.

"No, Ena, sweetheart," he said slowly. "Lee is your real brother. You two are twins."

Ena almost dropped the phone, and Lee gasped.

"Mr. Ena's Dad, you mean I'm adopted?" Lee blurted into the phone.

"Um, no," Mr. Collins said confusedly. "Well, kind of. You see, when you two were born, your mother strongly advised me to split you up, since two demigods would attract more monsters than one, and twins are even more powerful. So I sent Lee to live with my old college friend, and it seems like he's taken very good care of you. I'm sorry, Lee, for not being able to raise you myself, but believe me when I say I did it to protect you both."

Lee was silent for a moment, and he looked at Ena.

"Well, I do have one question for you," Lee said to their dad.

"Ask me anything," Mr. Collins responded quickly.

Lee grinned mischievously at his twin.

"Who's older?"

Again, Ena could practically see her Dad's smile.

"Ena is, by seven minutes," he answered, which caused Ena to smirk and Lee to groan.

"Well, I love you dad, we'll see you soon!" Ena said, checking the time and seeing that they had already been on the phone for too long

"I love you both," their father responded. "But about coming home, I have some bad news about that."

Ena's heart beat faster. "W-what do you mean? Lee and I will be home for Christmas, right?"

Their father sighed heavily. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart, but I was called to a week long conference in San Antonio. I have to go, and I won't be back until after Christmas."

Ena felt a lump in her throat. She and her father had always been close, and this would be her first Christmas without him.

"Ena? Sweetie, I'm so sorry," he father continued when she didn't respond.

"I-It's okay," she said finally, feeling tears prick at her eyes. "I understand."

"I wish I didn't have to go, but my boss says I'm the best man for the job," he father said apologetically.

Ena didn't feel like she could speak without crying, so she just nodded, without realizing he couldn't see her.

Lee took over. "I'm sure your boss is right. Don't worry about us, I'll make sure Ena has a great Christmas, she has good friends here and she won't be alone."

Lee could hear the relief in his father's voice. "Thank you son, I trust you."

Ena had regained her composure, and spoke up. "Well, dad, I think we really do have to go, we've been on the phone too long already. I love you!"

"I love you too, I miss you!"

"I miss you too, Daddy, bye!"

"Bye!"

The line went dead. Ena and Lee stared at each other silently.

Suddenly, Ena rushed forward and hugged her brother again.

Lee could tell that hugging was her thing, so he held her for a moment. When she pulled away, she still looked a little sad, but she looked happy too.

"I'm so glad you're here," she remarked, mustering up a smile. "It's so exciting! We'll have our own little Christmas. I've never had a brother to do Christmas stuff with, much less a twin!"

Lee grinned. "I'm excited too. I've never had any kind of sibling before. I can't believe I never realized I was adopted. I guess I should have, since both my 'parents' have red hair and are extreme morning people," he laughed.

"So, you're from Hawaii?" Ena asked, going over and plopping down on his bed. The Nyx cabin was more comfortable than most other cabins, namely the Athena and Hermes cabins. Since there were hardly any children of Nyx, there were no bunk beds in the cabin, only half a dozen queen sized beds along one wall. There was a lot of space in the cabin, other than a few desks and bookshelves, since Ena loved to read.

"Yeah," Lee said, plopping down next to her on the soft starry comforter. "And before you ask, no, unfortunately, I can't surf."

Ena giggled. "Actually, I wasn't going to ask that."

"That's all the Aphrodite girls wanted to know," Lee remarked, putting his hands behind his head and leaning back onto the mattress. "They don't seem to be the sharpest arrows at camp."

Ena copied her brother's pose and leaned back beside him. "Well, not all of them, but for the most part, yes. What I was going to ask you was how were the Christmases in Hawaii?"

Lee thought for a moment, then answered. "Well, it's not like we decorate palm trees or anything. We have a fake Christmas tree inside, and we watch old Christmas movies, like Holiday Inn, or White Christmas." he smiled. "That one's my favorite, which is kind of ironic, since I've never had a white Christmas. I've never even seen snow."

Ena propped herself up on her side, supporting herself with her elbow so she could face Lee. "Really? Not even once? I thought it snowed on some of the mountains in Hawaii."

Lee shook his head. "Nope, I lived on Maui, no mountains there. I can't wait to finally see snow though!"

Ena frowned. "Hate to break it to you, bro, but the camp is climate-controlled. We don't get snow."

"What?" Lee sat upright, shaking the bed. "Why not?"

"The pegasi don't like snow," she explained. "And it would ruin our strawberry fields. I don't like the cold all that much, but I was disappointed with no snow, too."

Lee thought for a moment. "You know what, Ena?" he said at last. "We're going to have a white Christmas this year."

"No, I just said the camp is climate-controlled-" Ena started to explain again, but Lee cut her off.

"As your brother, I am personally going to guarantee us a white Christmas, one way or another!" he exclaimed, hopping off the bed and slipping his rainbow converse on. He headed for the door, either not remembering or not caring that he was wearing Buzz Lightyear pajamas.

"Where are you going?" Ena asked, confused.

"I met someone last week, I need to go talk to them right away! It's a secret," Lee answered, throwing the door open and bounding out of it.

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Lee knocked on the door of the snow-white cabin and nervously smoothed his hair down.

"It's open!" A boy's voice called.

He swung the door open and stepped inside, shivering at the slight chill.

There were four boys and a girl in the cabin, all getting ready for the day. Two of the boys were shoving each other in front of the bathroom sink, and the other two boys were arguing over a shirt that was being pulled between the two of them. The girl, who had jet black hair and extremely fair skin, was sitting quietly on a bed, her hands folded, and looking very peaceful.

Lee felt his heart flutter. "Noel!" he exclaimed, going over to her.

Her pale face lit up, and her Icy blue eyes sparkled. "Lee! Nice pajamas," she smirked, checking out his Toy Story inspired PJs.

Lee stuck his tongue out at her, and she laughed. "What's up?"

"Why didn't you tell me it doesn't snow at Camp Half-Blood?" he questioned, receiving a sad look from Noel in response.

"I forgot to tell you," she said apologetically. "You just seemed so thrilled that I was a daughter of Khione that I guess it slipped my mind."

"How can there be no snow for Christmas? I love snow!" Lee protested, getting a giggle out of Noel.

"You've never even seen it!" she pointed out.

Lee grinned. "I just know I'll love it. Come on, we've got about four days to convince Chiron to let it snow, just for _one _day, _one _Christmas. Might as well start now," he said, offering her his hand.

She took it gracefully, rising to walk with Lee to the Big House. But at Noel's insistence, they stopped at the Nyx cabin first so Lee could change.

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"Absolutely not," Chiron said firmly, glancing at them out of the corner of his eye. When their faces fell, he continued with a sigh, "I'm sorry, kids, but it's not a good idea, even for Christmas. You have to be considerate of others," he stated, but Lee cut him off.

"Aw, come on!" he said, trying not to whine but failing miserably. "One little frost won't hurt the strawberries too bad, and we'll get the pegasi a few extra blankets!"

"And the children of Anthiale?" Chiron pointed out. "The demigods of heat would be very uncomfortable. So would the Apollo and Demeter demigods too. I'm sorry, but having snow in the camp would be chaotic and impractical, and that's final."

"What if we got a majority of the camp to sign a petition?" Noel spoke up. "If three-fourths of the camp is okay with it, can my brothers and I make it snow?"

Chiron thought for a moment. "Well, I highly doubt you'll get everyone to agree..." he trailed off, then nodded. "But alright. If you can get three-fourths of the campers to sign a petition, then I'll allow snow. But only one day, for Christmas. From 6 PM on the 24th, to 6 PM on the 25th."

Noel and Lee cheered and hugged each other excitedly. "We'll get right on it, Mr. Chiron sir," Lee said enthusiastically. "You'll get your names, and we'll get our white Christmas!"

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"No way, Maui" Katie Gardner, head counselor of the Demeter cabin said later, shaking her head. "If it snows, our garden will be ruined!"

From day one, Lee hadn't gotten along with Katie. Every time they talked, it usually ended in a fight. She seemed a little jealous that he was from Hawaii, probably because there were so many beautiful flowers there, and had taken to calling him "Maui."

"Let's be reasonable," Lee argued. "You've had your garden all year long, for as long as you've been here! And there's enough time for you to plant some flowers or whatever that do well in cold conditions, like Holly and Mistletoe and stuff."

"Sorry," Katie said, pushing the clipboard of paper back at him and not looking very sorry. "But it's still a no. Unless..."

"Unless what?" Lee asked eagerly.

"Unless you bring us the seeds for the flowers, so we'll be prepared for the snow," she said. "You get us enough Luculia, Lavender, Primrose, and Daphne seeds to fill our entire garden, and I'll guarantee you a signature from everyone in the cabin."

"Deal!" Lee said quickly, and they shook hands.

"We'll need them before the 24th," she informed him. "You've got three days. The sooner you get them, the better, since we'll have to work overtime to get them to grow. I hear there's supposed to be a major snowstorm hitting New York, and it'll probably be hard to get out after that."

"You'll get your seeds, don't worry about a thing," Lee assured her. "But can I get those signatures in advance?"

Katie snorted. "No way, Maui. We get the seeds, you get the names."

"Fine," Lee grumbled. "I've gotta go get some more signatures. See you later."

Katie closed the door.

Lee spotted Noel heading towards him from the Ares cabin.

"How'd it go with the Athena campers?" He asked her when they reached each other. Noel had volunteered to speak with Annabeth, the head counselor, because she knew that Annabeth and Lee disliked each other, and they figured they would have a better chance of getting a 'yes' from her if Noel went.

"Annabeth was totally against it," she related, frowning. "She said that snow is a hassle, and it's inconvenient. I can see why you don't like her. But anyway, she and the entire Athena cabin said they'd sign it after we made a deal!" She exclaimed.

"What was the deal?" Lee asked warily.

"Uh, I told her that we would shovel all the paths and walkways around camp," she said apologetically.

"What?!" Lee exclaimed, his jaw dropping. "There's gotta be at least 10 miles of paths in camp! We can't do all of that ourselves!"

"I know that," Noel said patiently. "That's why I went to the Ares cabin. They said they would sign the petition and shovel all the roads if my brothers and I would build them an awesome snow fort so that they could have a 'superly awesome epic snowball fight' in." she said.

"So, your brothers agreed and signed the petition?" Lee asked.

"Um, not exactly," She said, rolling her eyes. "They only agreed to help me with the snow fort if I would get the Hephastus cabin to make them each a pair of nunchucks."

"And would_ they _sign it?" Lee question, feeling a little discouraged.

"Uh, no," Noel said, sighing. "They said they would make the nunchucks if we would get them a new chainsaw. Leo accidentally blew up the best one they had. And, if we can get Percy to help them with some hydraulic work after Christmas, they'll all sign the petition."

Lee sighed. "And what does Percy want us to do?"

Noel grinned, and held up a blue piece of paper with a single name: _Percy Jackson. _"Nothing!"

Lee also smiled. "All right! So since the Apollo, Dionysus, Hades, and Aphrodite cabins already signed, all we have to do now is go out and buy a chainsaw so the Hephaestus cabin will make a bunch of nunchucks for your brothers so they can build the Ares cabin a snow fort so the Ares cabin will shovel the walkways so all those cabins plus the Athena cabin will sign our petition! Oh, and we have to go out and buy some seeds for the Demeter cabin, and make sixteen dozen cookies for the Hermes cabin so they'll sign."

Noel smiled. "No problem."

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"You know what we should do today?" Lee asked the next morning, when Ena woke up.

"What?" She mumbled sleepily, swinging her legs off the bed.

"Get a Christmas tree!" He exclaimed, hopping off his bed and grabbing Ena's hands to pull her up.

"Wha-? Why?" She asked, rubbing her eyes. "Get a Christmas tree for who?"

"For us!" Lee said, walking over to a large open space in the middle of the cabin. "It's three days until Christmas. We'll put it right here!"

Ena shrugged. "Why not? I guess we can go get one," she said. "Leo and I were going to bring one to the Dionysus cabin for their party, anyway. Leo said he saw a few good ones by the border."

After the siblings got dressed and ready for the day, they met Leo after breakfast to go look for their Christmas trees. Noel decided she wanted one for her cabin, and came along with them.

When they reached the place in the forest that Leo had seen some nice trees, Lee stopped and stared at the border. It was like Camp Half-Blood was in an inside-out snowglobe, with all the snow on the outside and a perfect circle of green grass on the inside.

It was the first time Lee had ever seen snow in person, and he gasped and walked over to the short wall of snow. Then, he stepped out of the border, grinning. He leaned down and scooped up a handful of snow, then dropped it suddenly and jumped back.

"What's wrong?" Noel asked, looking confused.

"I-it's cold!" Lee exclaimed, pointing at the snow. "And it's wet!"

Noel gave him a strange look while Ena and Leo started laughing. "Yes, it's_ snow_. Snow is _frozen water_. It's _supposed_ to be cold and wet."

Lee was looking around at the soft blanket of white layered over the camp. His friends couldn't tell what his reaction was, until he bent down again and scooped up an armful of snow.

"I love it!" he exclaimed, tossing it into the air and making it fall again. "I knew I'd love it!"

Noel smiled, happy that he was happy.

He turned to her, suddenly serious looking. "Noel, we _have _to have snow at camp for Christmas. It's amazing! We just _have _to."

She nodded. "We'll do our best."

The group quickly found three perfect trees, and Lee and Leo carried one each, while Ena and Noel helped each other carry the third one back to the cabins.

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The next day was only two days before Christmas, so Lee and Noel decided it was time to run the errands that would get the cabins to sign the Let it Snow petition, which was it's official name.

"Be careful, you guys," Percy warned them as he handed Lee the keys to the pickup truck that he had driven into camp. "I heard there's a big snowstorm coming. Stay safe, and keep your eyes on the road."

"Don't worry about us, we'll be fine," Lee assured him. "Thanks for letting us borrow the truck!"

Percy laughed. "Well, technically the truck belongs to Leo, Ena, and I, but since I'm the only one who can drive it, I guess it_ is _my truck. So yeah, no problem. Just keep your eyes open."

Lee and Noel climbed into the truck, and Lee shifted it into gear and drove down the road leading away from camp.

As soon as they reached the border, they were bombarded by a huge blast of snow.

"Wow, Percy wasn't kidding!" Noel exclaimed, looking through the windshield with amazement. "This is a blizzard! Do you think we should go back?"

"No way!" Lee answered, watching the road carefully. "We've gotta get the chainsaw, the seeds, and ingredients for cookies! And, I want to buy a headband for Ena. I saw one that she'd love, it matches her green Christmas dress!"

Noel smiled. "That's sweet. I'm not getting my brothers anything, they're a pain," she laughed.

As they drove further and further away from camp, the conditions got worse. Pretty soon, the road was hardly visible, and sheets of black ice were forming on the pavement.

Suddenly, the truck started to skid back and forth across the road. Two bright headlights shone through their windshield as they slid into the wrong lane, and Noel screamed. The truck was completely out of control, and Lee just made it across the road before they collided with the other vehicle. Unfortunately, they crashed into a tree.

The air bags popped out and stopped both of them from smashing their heads into the dashboard or steering wheel, but they both got whiplash from the force.

"Are you okay?" Lee asked immediately, turning to Noel.

"Y-yeah, I think so," she said shakily.

"I'm so sorry!" Lee apologized. "The truck hydroplaned on the ice, there was nothing I could do!"

"It's okay, it's not your fault," Noel assured him, taking deep breaths. "Will the car start again?"

Lee tried the ignition. The truck sputtered for a few moments, then died, and the lights flickered out.

"No good, I think I killed it," Lee said miserably. "I'm no good at fixing cars, I have no clue what's wrong with it! I wish we had brought Leo, but it looks like we're stuck."

Noel frowned nervously.

"I guess we're not going to be able to get to the store for anything," Lee stated quietly.

Noel sighed, the disappointment showing on her face. "I guess not. Which means no cookies for the Hermes kids, and no seeds for the Demeter cabin. _And _it means no chainsaw for the Hephaestus kids, which means no nunchucks for my brothers, which means no snow fort for the Ares campers, which means no shoveled pathways for the Athena cabin, which means-"

"No white Christmas for us," Lee said sadly.

"I guess not," Noel agreed.

"Well, I'd say it could be worse, but it looks like this is as bad as it gets," Lee shrugged, strumming his fingers on the dashboard.

"Do you think we should try to walk back?" Noel asked worriedly, peering through the frost-covered windows.

"No, it's too far, and we wouldn't know where we're going," Lee said. "It's best if we stay here, and wait for them to find us."

"That could be a long time," Noel pointed out. "They won't come looking for us until we've been gone for hours, and we could freeze by then. Well, you more than me. But I could send a snow message to camp to tell them where we are?" she suggested.

"You can do that?" Lee asked in amazement.

"Yeah, it's a rare gift of Khione," she explained. "Kind of like charmspeak, or fire power with the Hephaestus cabin. Only daughters of Khione can do it, and even then only about one in a thousand can send them. It's like a whisper. You send someone a message in a chilly wind, and they hear a message that's as soft as snowfall."

"That's awesome!" Lee exclaimed. "I knew I liked you for a reason."

Noel blushed. "Well, I guess I'll be right back," she said, opening the car door and stepping outside. A strong gust blew a pile of snow onto her empty seat, and she slammed the door quickly.

Moments later, she hopped back inside the truck.

"It's sent!" she announced. "Someone should be here soon."

Her words came true, when less than half an hour later the strawberry van pulled up beside them, and Percy hopped out.

"Come on, guys, get in!" he said over the wind, ushering them into the van. "Did you guys get all the stuff you needed?"

Noel and Lee's faces answered his question.

"It's okay guys, we just need to get back to camp before the storm gets any worse!" Percy said, once they were all buckled in. He started up the van and made a U-turn.

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When they got back to camp, there was a large crowd waiting for them, and Nyssa ran up to Lee.

"Did you get our chainsaw?" she asked excitedly.

"Actually, the storm stopped us before we could get to the store," Lee explained apologetically, looking extremely disappointed.

"What about our seeds?" Katie Gardner demanded.

"We didn't get those either," Noel said, looking at the ground.

"I'm guessing we're not getting any cookies," Travis Stoll asked.

"What about the snow fort?" Clarisse spoke up.

"No," Lee and Noel said at the same time, getting more upset with each question.

"I'm sorry we let you all down," Noel said, tears welling up in her eyes as she pulled her clipboard with the Let if Snow petition out of her messenger bag. "We just really wanted it to snow, just _once_, just for Christmas. Sorry we were so stupid," she finished, letting the clipboard slip out of her hand, and it landed in the mud.

Everyone was silent for a moment.

Finally, Leo stepped forward from the crowd and leaned down to pick up the clipboard.

"Has anyone got a pen?" he asked loudly.

The crowd buzzed, and Noel and Lee looked up hopefully.

"I have one," a voice said from the crowd. Everyone turned to see Katie Gardner walking forward with the said item, and watched in surprise as she took the clipboard from Leo and signed her name.

"Demeter cabin, get over here and sign this thing!" she ordered, and the rest of her cabin came up to sign the petition.

"Wh-what?" Lee asked in amazement. "But we didn't get your seeds! We failed!"

Katie smiled ironically. "I know. But it's Christmas, and everyone should have a white Christmas at least once, Maui."

"Do you hear that, Hephaestus cabin?" Leo asked. "It's Christmas! So all of you, get up here- chainsaw or no chainsaw!"

One by one, the entire Hephaestus cabin walked to the front and put their names down. Next came the Ares cabin, then the Khione cabin, then the Hermes cabin, who said "We'll get cookies at the Christmas party."

Then, finally, the Athena cabin came up and wrote their names down. "It's Christmas," Annabeth repeated, the last one to sign her name. "Now's the time to dream. Don't ever give up, guys," she said, handing the finished petition to Lee, who took it happily.

"Thanks, Annabeth," he said gratefully.

"Thank you both, too," she said sincerely. "Sometimes we all need to be reminded about what we should be doing at Christmas. We don't need people to do us favors just so we can help them out; we should be a little more generous, and a little more considerate. So, let it snow!" she finished with a smile.

Lee turned to Noel. "What are we doing just standing here?" he asked. "Let's get to the Big House!"

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The next night, on Christmas Eve, since Lee never got to the store for Ena's head band, he stayed up almost all night painting her a work of art. Lee was a great artist, and he loved painting with oil paints the most. He filled a large canvas with a lighthouse and a starry night, and it was nearly 1 AM when he finished.

He looked at his finished product, quite satisfied, and put it aside with the rest of the Christmas gifts he had painted that week: A winter scene for Noel, an abstract design for the Stolls, a realistic bonfire for Leo, and an underwater palace for Percy.

Right before going to bed, Lee looked up at the skylight and grinned, because he couldn't see the sky. Just a blanket of white obscuring the heavens.

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For Christmas, everyone at Camp Half-Blood gathered at the Dionysis cabin for gift-giving and Christmas partying. Everyone had loved the paintings Lee had given, and people were requesting their own to decorate their cabin.

"I have something for you two!" Ena exclaimed, plopping down on the floor next to Lee and Leo. She tossed a neatly wrapped package onto each boy's lap. "Merry Christmas!"

Lee opened his to find a long, blue, oddly shaped woolen mass. He looked over at Leo to see him pulling a similar object, but red, from his box.

"Uh, sis..." Lee said, trying to be tactful. "What the heck is this?"

"They're scarves!" She exclaimed happily. "Annabeth taught me how to knit last weekend, and I made them myself!"

"Oh!" Leo exclaimed, wrapping his 'scarf' around his neck immediately. "I love it! Thanks so much!"

Ena leaned over and gave him a kiss. "Merry Christmas!"

Lee quietly set his 'scarf' to the side. "I think I'm gonna wear mine later," he said, which seemed to satisfy Ena.

"I've got something for you guys, too!" Leo announced, walking over to the enormous Christmas tree and pulling two badly wrapped presents from under it. "Open them!"

Lee opened his first. It was a paintbrush set, which looked handcrafted.

"I heard you like to paint, so I made those for you," Leo said, obviously proud. "See the tiny colored buttons on the side? You just press whatever color you want, dip the brush in water, and _voila!_" Instant paint."

"Awesome, man, thanks!" Lee said, giving Leo a bro hug.

Ena opened her gift next, which was slightly larger. She giggled when she pulled out a black leather jacket that had a fire and star pattern on the pocket.

"The fire and star is for us," Leo explained unneccessarily. "Check out the back," he grinned, as she turned it around.

Lee snorted when he saw the words "TEAM LEO" stitched across the back.

Ena laughed. "I love it! It's awesome!" She exclaimed, giving him another kiss.

Leo grinned. "I'm glad you like it."

Lee looked around the room to watch the exchange of other presents: Annabeth received a biography of Frank Lloyd Wright from Percy, who received a scarf that actually looked like a scarf from Annabeth, and he saw Katie open a box of the wintery seeds she had wanted from Jake.

The Hermes cabin was at the food table, stuffing their faces with cookies from the Aphrodite cabin, and Lee saw that the sons of Khione received the nunchucks they wanted, as a gift from the Hephaestus cabin. He saw Nyssa unwrap a mysterious package from underneath the tree, and inside was a brand-new chainsaw.

"It's from dad!" he heard her exclaim from across the room.

Lee smiled, then spotted Noel standing off to the side, sipping a mug of hot chocolate.

"Be right back," Lee said to Ena and Leo, who didn't look like they minded being left alone.

"Hey," Lee grinned when he reached Noel's side.

"Hey, do you want some hot chocolate?" Noel asked, reaching for another mug.

"Yeah, thanks," Lee said, accepting it gratefully and taking a sip.

"So, I was thinking," he said, as they walked towards the door of the Dionysis cabin. "You're pretty amazing. I can't believe we pulled off the white Christmas thing!"

Noel blushed and smiled at him. "You're pretty amazing, too," she said, leaning against the doorway, both of them watching the snow fall softly. "We're a pretty good team."

"I was thinking the same thing," Lee said, turning to face her. He set his mug of hot chocolate down on the table behind him, then took Noel's mug and did the same to hers. She gave him a confused look as he took both of her hands in his.

"I know that I painted you that picture for Christmas, but I don't think that's enough," he said, looking into her ice blue eyes.

"You know I loved it," she said, staring back into his.

"Yeah, but I think you should look up anyway," Lee grinned.

Noel glanced at the top of the door frame, and laughed at what she saw.

"You asked for it," she said, leaning up to give him a kiss.

Lee grinned, because he knew that the second best Christmas tradition, besides having a white Christmas, was kissing under the mistletoe.

"Merry Christmas," he whispered when they broke apart, still smiling.

"Merry Christmas."

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**A/N**

**MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY! :) :) :) I hope you all have a great Christmas and New Years!**

**Ena Daughter of Nyx drew this amazing drawing, with characters from my oneshots!:) nights-daughter . deviantart art/MerryChristmas-EmMarie96-344028380?ga_submit=10%3A1356129615 (Remove the spaces!)**

**Follow her on deviantart, it's Nights-Daughter!**

**So, what did you think?:) Please review!**

**I may or may not update next week, I'm super busy, but I'm still accepting submissions! The demigod submission form can be found in chapter 1, but PLEASE read all the guidelines before submitting:)**

**Also, would anyone like to read about what happened on Ena, Leo, and Percy's quest?:) I could do a full story, if enough people would like to read it:D**

**Thanks for reading, and again, MERRY CHRISTMAS!:)**

**Xoxoxo,**

**EmMarie**


	13. Shaw Henderson: Son of Apollo

**A/N**

**This is for DanceForever16, who owns Shaw Henderson. (And Lizzie Lehrer!) I hope you like it!:)**

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I've been here for four days so far, and still, no one cares.

Depressing, right? Tell me about it. My name is Shaw Henderson, and apparently I'm boring.

Camp is great and all, and the people I've met are fairly nice to me, but I just don't stand out. Since all my siblings are just as good as I am at poetry, archery, healing, and music, I'm not special anymore, like I was at high school. I'm just another child of Apollo.

When I arrived at camp, It was easy for me to get adjusted to my surroundings, and I didn't really have to get used to any of the mythology stuff. You see, my mom had never kept it a secret from me that Apollo was my father. I'd even met him once before, when I won the New York State Junior Poetry Contest when I was 10. He wrote me a haiku to show how proud he was, and I have it hanging on my bedroom wall above my trophy:

_You won the contest_

_It's because you're my son_

_We are amazing_

I was going to point out to him that the second line only had six syllables, but he had seemed so proud of the poem that I didn't want to ruin it for him. But still, if he had just gotten rid of_ one _of those contractions...

Ugh. The bad poetry made me shudder.

At the moment, I was scribbling in my own poetry book, while sitting in my cool, air-conditioned cabin. I jotted down a quick rhyme that popped into my head and slammed my book shut. Maybe today I'll go out and make some new friends. Or I guess I could explore the camp a little more, I haven't seen much of it yet.

It was about lunch time, so I headed down to the pavilion. Since the summer was just starting, camp was filling up rapidly, and I saw many unfamiliar faces.

One stood out to me so clearly that it was like there was a spotlight shining on her. She looked about my age, maybe a few months younger, and she was laughing and talking with what must have been a sibling of hers. I didn't notice him at all though, I just saw her pretty, long dark hair, and even from a distance I could see that her eyes were a beautiful sea green.

Then I noticed that she was sitting at the previously unoccupied Poseidon table.

Huh. A child of the Big Three? Interesting.

Since it was against the rules to change tables during lunch, I caught up with her once everyone was finished.

"Hey, uh, excuse me!" I called out, before she could walk away. She turned around and our eyes met for the first time, and my breath caught in my lungs for a moment.

She smiled at me. "Hi! You must be new here," she observed, holding out a hand for me to shake. "I'm Elizabeth Lehrer. You can call me Lizzie! And you are?"

"Shaw, Shaw Henderson," I announced, shaking her hand lightly. "And yes, I'm new. I just got here last Saturday."

"Well, I'm glad you're here!" Lizzie beamed. "Has anyone shown you around yet?"

I shook my head. "Nawh, everyone seemed kind of busy, and I didn't want to bother anyone," I said, shrugging.

"Well, come on then!" Lizzie said, taking my hand and pulling me along. "I'll give you the full tour!"

Lizzie and I chatted for a couple hours while she led me around Camp Half-Blood, showing me the sights. I learned that she was indeed a daughter of Poseidon, and that she was 15. I told her about my recent experience with a hellhound, and being saved by a satyr, then how my mom finally decided it was time for me to go to camp. We were getting along quite well, and she seemed to be enjoying herself.

After joking around and laughing for a while, I decided to finally ask her.

"So, do you have a boyfriend?" I asked, in what I hoped was a casual voice.

Lizzie giggled. "Actually, no. What about you?"

I grinned, but tried not to look too pleased. "I'm single too," I said nonchalantly. "But I'm surprised you are. You're so pretty, you probably have a waiting list of guys who want you."

She blushed and rolled her eyes. "You're not too bad yourself," she hinted, smiling.

I was just about to ask her on a date when she exclaimed, "Oh! There's the arena. I wanted to show you that too, come on!"

She grabbed my hand again and pulled me along. The arena was pretty large, with bleachers for spectators, rows of weapons, and even a medical station in the corner, it was impressive to a newcomer. When I looked up to see that the ceiling was transparent, which made the building seem even bigger.

There was a small group of people standing in the center of the arena, practicing sword fighting. One guy in particular seemed very good- slashing, parrying, dodging, and rolling around, he never seemed to stop moving.

"Who's the guy beating the crap out of everyone?" I asked Lizzie, pointing to the dark-haired teen whirling around the arena.

Lizzie grinned. "That's Percy Jackson, my big brother.

I raised my eyebrows appreciatively. "He's good."

"The best," Lizzie put in. "There's not a single person at camp who can beat him in sword-fighting."

"Really? Not any of the Ares kids or any of the older campers?"

"Nope!" Lizzie answered, obviously proud. "All the girls here have an inside joke: if you can find the guy that can beat Percy, marry him!"

"Really?" I said, now interested. "I think I'll go talk to him, then."

"Come on, I'll introduce you two," Lizze said, taking my hand and pulling me to the middle of the arena.

Percy had his sword tip pointed at his opponent's neck. The two froze in that position for a moment, until Percy swung his sword into its sheath and held out a hand to pull the other demigod up.

"Nice try, Logan," Percy told him. "Work on your defense, and we'll spar again next week."

Logan nodded, and jogged off.

"Percy!" Lizzie exclaimed as we reached him. "I've got someone I want you to meet."

"Hey, Izzie!" Percy greeted. "Who's this?"

"This is Shaw Henderson," Lizzie introduced. I mentally pumped my fist in the air- she remembered my name! "He's a new son of Apollo. Shaw, this is Percy."

I shook hands with the son of Poseidon, and he gave me a friendly smile.

"Welcome to camp!" Percy said sincerely. "How do you like it so far?"

"It's nice," I said honestly, "but kind of disappointing. My siblings and I are all the same."

Percy dipped his head. "I won't disagree with you there. Children of Apollo tend to have the same skills, more so than other demigods. Like, not all the Hephaestus kids are good with cars, and not all the Ares kids are expert sword fighters, but the Apollo kids..." he trailed off.

"Kind of a bummer," I remarked, tapping my toe against the floor.

"Maybe not," Percy said. "You might get a quest or something that'll set you apart, who knows? Everyone at camp is known for something, you've got plenty of time."

I shrugged again. "Eh, we'll see. Well, I don't wanna keep you from your sword fighting. Lizzie and I are going to explore the beach! It was nice meeting you, Percy."

"You too, Shaw," Percy nodded, drawing his sword again and turning towards an approaching demigod.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I spent the rest of the day with Lizzie, talking and laughing and having a good time. I could tell we were going to be good friends, though I hoped I could change that in the near future. I know I had no chances of getting with her now, while I was a nobody, but soon enough I'll find a way to show her that I'm the one.

When I got back to Cabin 7 that night, I heard an eight-part harmony drifting out of the windows. I was sure I could find the ninth harmony, but I was too tired to sing, so I got ready for bed and fell asleep almost immediately.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX

The next afternoon, I was painting a pot during arts and crafts. I was pretty proud of the way it was turning out, and was just about to put the finishing touches on it when the door of the cabin slammed open.

"Are there any Apollo demigods in here?" Ena Collins, a daughter of Nyx, asked frantically as she burst into the craft cabin.

I dropped my paintbrush and raised my hand.

"Good!" She exclaimed, rushing over to me and grabbing my wrist. "Hannah Cabell just fell off the climbing wall, and she hurt her ankle."

I grabbed my backpack before she pulled me out of the craft cabin, and she and quickly led me down the hill to the climbing wall. There was a girl, about twelve years old, sitting on the ground and leaning against the plaster structure. We reached her side and I knelt down next to her.

"Is he an Apollo dude?" the girl, who must have been Hannah, asked Ena, gesturing to me.

"Yes, I am," I said, my voice bristling with annoyance. "My name's Shaw."

"Hannah," she nodded.

"Well, what happened, Hannah?" I asked casually, scooting over to examine her ankle. It looked strange, and was already starting to swell, but I didn't react outwardly to it. Being a child of Apollo, I'm naturally good with healing, and a big part of healing is knowing how to treat the patient. The calmer you react to a situation, the more likely the patient will be calm and relaxed.

Hannah took a deep breath. "Well, I was just climbing with Ena for fun, since we have a free period right now, but I guess we should've waited for someone to strap us in properly," she finished sheepishly. She winced slightly when I put pressure on her ankle, so I drew my hands away.

"You probably should have," I agreed, unzipping my backpack and pulling a baggie of ambrosia out of the inside pocket. I broke off a piece and handed it to her. "You have a small fracture on your ankle. It'll be fine though, we just have to get you up to the infirmary right away so I can wrap it up."

"How am I gonna get there? I don't think I can walk," Hannah pointed out.

"I'll run up and get a wheelchair," I said, standing up and brushing my jeans off. "Be right back."

"Or you could just send someone else down with the wheelchair," Ena suggested. "I'm sure one of your siblings are working in the infirmary. Just run down to the office, it's closer, and have them radio the infirmary. Another child of Apollo could wrap her ankle up, and you can get back to whatever you were doing."

"Oh, yeah, right," I stuttered. Of course another child of Apollo could do it. Any of us could. It's just some simple healing. "Sounds good. Someone else can get this, yeah, you're right. Uh, I guess I'll go down to the office, I'll see you later then."

"Thanks, Shane!" Hannah said cheerfully.

I opened my mouth to correct her, but let it slide. "Yeah, no problem. Try not to move around too much."

Ena waved at me before I turned and jogged to the office. I tried not to feel too disappointed, but honestly, I've felt like a third wheel since I got here.

Actually, I feel more like a thirty-second wheel, if I'm going to count _all _my siblings. They didn't really need me. If Ena had found any of my brothers or sisters before she found me, they would have been able to do the exact same thing.

Before I walked into the office, I took a deep breath and tried not to feel too useless, so that it wouldn't show on my face. After having the older demigod behind the desk radio the infirmary, I glumly returned to craft class.

Painting didn't seem as fun after that.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXX

On my way to archery a week later, I heard someone call my name. Well, sort of.

"Hey, you there! Apollo kid!"

I sighed and turned around to see Jake Abel, a son of Ares. I don't know what was sadder; the fact that I knew his name but he didn't know mine, or the fact that I answered to 'Apollo kid.'

"Yeah?" I said.

"Apollo dude, my girlfriend Katie is organizing a talent show," Jake started to explain.

"And?" I asked, wanting to get to class.

"I'm inviting people to join," he continued. "It's not just any talent show, it's a talent _competition_, Camp Half-Blood style. The winner gets to be commander of their team for capture the flag, they get a trophy, and their picture will be displayed above the colosseum entrance for the week."

"Really?" I said, now intrigued. "How do you enter? And how is it 'Camp Half-Blood style?'"

Jake grinned. "It's the most spontaneous competition ever. To enter, right before you show your talent or skill, you just shout something like, 'Hey everyone, my name is Apollo dude and here's my entry for the talent show!' It lasts all week, and once it's over the whole camp will vote on their favorite entry."

"Sign me up," I said nodding, and he wrote something down on his clipboard. I sighed, figuring he probably wrote 'Apollo Dude.' "My name's Shaw Henderson," I added. "S-H-A-W."

Jake nodded absentmindedly and scribbled on the board. "Got it. See ya, Shawn!"

I exhaled deeply. Oh well. It's a start.

I continued on my way to archery class, which I had with Lizzie.

"Hey there!" She said brightly, scooting over to make room for me on the wooden bench she was sitting on.

"Hey yourself," I smiled, sitting next to her.

Thunder rumbled overhead.

"Looks like it's gonna rain," Lizzie remarked, glancing skyward.

"I heard we're going to get a huge thunderstorm," I informed her. "Zeus is cranky, so he's going to make it storm inside camp."

Lizzie grinned. "That might be fun, we never get cool weather."

"So I hear," I nodded. "But guess what I just did?"

"Hmm?" She asked, watching a guy from the Hermes cabin take his turn at shooting. He was horrible, and missed the target completely.

"I just entered the Camp Half-Blood talent competition!" I said, trying to hide my excitement. Because, you know, it wasn't manly to squeal over a talent show.

She beamed at me. "Yay! I hope you win. What are you going to do?"

I opened my mouth to answer, then closed it. "Um, I don't know yet."

"Way to plan ahead," she teased.

I elbowed her in the side. It was my turn to shoot, so I stood up and quickly took my turn, hitting the bullseye three times in a row. As usual, each of my arrows split the last one in half as they all landed in the same spot.

"Wow, Shaw," Lizzie said, her mouth wide open when I rejoined her on the bench. "Why don't you do_ that _for your entry?"

Just then, one of my siblings, Harmony Dixon, grabbed a bow and arrow set and took her turn. She quickly shot off five arrows, hitting the dead center of the bullseye with the first one and splitting her arrows in half just like I had.

"_That's_ why," I sighed, digging my heels into the dirt.

"Oh," Lizzie said softly.

"I've got to do something big," I blurted out quietly. "So far, you're my only friend, everyone else just calls me 'Apollo dude' or something! Every day, it's, 'Apollo kid, this!' or 'Apollo guy, that!' It's like I'm not even my own person!"

"Don't let it get to you, Shaw," Lizzie said comfortingly. "Just be yourself, everyone will come around eventually."

I frowned. "That's the problem! I _can't _be myself, because that makes me like everyone else."

Lizzie reached for my hand and squeezed it comfortingly. "You'll think of something. I know you will."

I returned a quick squeeze and sighed again. "I hope so."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A few days later, I still hadn't thought of anything to do for the talent show. I was sitting alone in the bleachers of the arena, watching some sword battles, when the girl from last week came up to me.

"Hey! Steve, right?" she asked hesitantly.

I resisted the urge to sigh. "No, it's Shaw," I corrected politely. "You're Ena, right?"

She grinned. "Yeah. Sorry, Shaw."

I shrugged. "Everybody does it."

She giggled. "Oops. Well, I just wanted to know if I could sit by you while I watch the matches? You looked kinda lonely, and these are good seats."

I smiled and nodded. "Sure."

Together, Ena and I watched random demigods dueling across the arena. Some were obviously experienced, and some were complete novices.

"Hey, doesn't Percy Jackson usually participate in this?" I asked Ena, scanning the arena for him.

"He's taking a break this week," she answered. "He said he'd only fight if he was challenged."

"Is he here?" I asked, an idea forming in my mind. It was a crazy idea, but I thought I might be able to pull it off.

"Yeah, he should be," Ena said, glancing around the bleachers. "I usually have this arena period with him... Ah! There," she pointed to the far side of the arena. Percy was sitting alone, tapping his fingers against the bench.

"Excuse me," I said to Ena, standing up and heading over to him.

"Where are you-"

I didn't answer her. I climbed up to where Percy was sitting, and stood in front of him.

"Hey, man," Percy said, "Stan, right?"

"Shaw," I corrected quickly, then rushed on. "Are you up for a match today?"

"Uh, sure," Percy shrugged, pulling a ball point pen out of his pocket. "Now?"

"Yeah, hold on," I said. I ran over to the supply cupboard and grabbed the megaphone.

"MAY I HAVE EVERYONE'S ATTENTION!" I announced through the amplifier. "MY NAME IS SHAW HENDERSON, AND FOR MY TALENT SHOW ENTRY I'M GOING TO BEAT PERCY JACKSON IN A SWORD-FIGHTING MATCH!"

Almost on cue, thunder shook the building. There hadn't been any rain yesterday, but it seemed like the storm had saved itself up for today. It was pouring outside, and lighting flashed across the sky every few moments.

Most of the demigods in the arena stared at me in shock, and a few snickered, but ignored them and gestured for Percy to join me in the middle of the arena. He had a slightly amused expression.

"So, you're going to beat me, are you?" He asked ironically, while we both put on some protective armor.

I nodded, determined. I hadn't shown anyone at camp yet, but I was also an excellent sword fighter. I had won quite a few fencing tournaments at my old school, and I have the trophies to prove it.

"Well, all teasing aside, good luck," Percy said, reaching out to shake my hand. Percy uncapped his pen, and I drew my sword.

We both moved in a circle, neither one of us wanting to strike first.

Another crash of thunder shook the building, and I couldn't help but jump a little. Percy took that opportunity to swipe at my knee, but I saw it coming and parried.

He took another swipe at my hip, but I sidestepped and jabbed at his shoulder. He easily knocked my sword aside and thrust at my chest. I ducked, and swung my sword in a low arc, and he had to jump to avoid being knocked off his feet.

We whirled around the arena like that, jumping and twisting and spinning about. Eventually, the floor of the arena became too small for our battle, and we ran up and down the bleachers. At one point, I tripped and fell onto a bench. Percy stabbed at my chest, but I rolled away onto the floor, and Riptide bounced off the metal seat. I stood up quickly before he could regain the advantage, and hopped across two rows of benches so I was above Percy.

I swiped my sword across his abdomen, and just barely managed to nick his armor. He stumbled, almost falling backwards over the bleachers. He regained his balance and jumped back down to ground level, forcing me to follow.

Our audience was completely captivated, cheering loudly and gasping every time we managed to land a hit on each other. Neither of us had actually injured the other yet, and neither of us had come close to winning. Just keeping up with Percy was hard work, and I was seriously starting to doubt if I could completely beat him.

We met in the middle of the arena again and our swords clashed. By some chance, we both somehow managed to knock each other's swords out of our hands. A flash of lightning lit up the whole room, and I couldn't see where my sword landed. I blinked a few times, and saw both swords skitter across the floor and slide under the bleachers on opposite sides of the room.

Percy and I locked eyes, both not wanting to run for our swords, since we didn't know which was ours. So, we did the first that that pops into a demigod guy's head when they lose their sword.

We charged each other.

Percy and I put our heads down to go for a low tackle. At that moment, the biggest crash of thunder sounded, and another flash of lightning lit up the room. The lights sparked, then flickered and went out.

Of course, we being guys, we didn't stop charging even though we couldn't see.

And, of course, we being _unlucky_ guys, we managed to crash our heads together.

I heard several screams and gasps, the everything went completely black

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When I came to, the lights were back on, and I had a massive headache.

"Ugh, I know what happened, don't tell me," I groaned, when I opened my eyes to see a group of relieved demigods crowded around me, Lizzie among them.

I sat up slowly and glanced around the arena. There were several holes in the wall, and I could see lots of dents in the bleachers. Uh oh. I guess Percy and I had done more damage than we realized.

"How's Percy?" I asked, wincing as I rubbed my head.

"Not great," I heard him call from a few feet away, surrounded by his own gang of concerned onlookers.

I almost laugh. "So, did I win?"

"Not a chance, Henderson!" Percy laughed, but his laughter was cut short with an "Oww."

"You may not have won the battle," a voice in the crowd said, and I looked up to see Katie Gardner holding a clipboard, "but you won the competition!"

"Huh?" I asked, still dazed.

"Technically, we're supposed to vote at the end of the week," Katie explained, "but while you were out, everyone cast their ballot. Besides, I'm pretty sure we won't see anything that entertaining for the rest of the week!"

I grinned slowly as I realized what that meant.

"So, congratulations!" She exclaimed, leaning down and shaking my hand. "Is there anything you want to say?"

"Yeah," I nodded, half-smiling. "Make sure you get my name right on the banner: Shaw Henderson. S-h-a-w."

Katie laughed. "No problem, Shaw."

"Can you put my name on the banner, too?" Percy asked from the ground. "I mean, I helped."

Katie rolled her eyes as everyone else laughed and cheered.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX X

"So, do you have anything you want to say about camp, now that you've won a major award?" Lizzie asked teasingly, when we were splashing around at the beach together later that night. It turned out I had gotten a minor concussion from crashing my head against Percy's, but I wasn't going to let that stop me from having fun with Lizzie.

I grinned and splashed her with the seawater. "Well, I guess I could get used to it here."

Lizzie stuck out her tongue and splashed me back twice as hard. "Nice to know that you'll be sticking around."

I knew it probably wasn't a good idea to get into a splash fight with a daughter of Poseidon, but I went for it anyway. I ran through the water towards her and used both my hands to splash her with a small wall of water.

What happened next was totally my fault. Who knew you could get a black eye from a water fight?

Lizzie giggled at me as I retreated to the beach, covering my face.

"No fair!" I called out, rubbing my stinging cheek.

Lizzie laughed some more and joined me on the beach. I was soaking wet, wearing my regular clothes, but she was completely dry. Also unfair.

"That's what ya get!" She teased, ruffling my wet hair.

I grinned. Yes, I really liked this girl. Her long dark hair was shining in the moonlight, and her eyes smiled when she laughed. Speaking of her laugh, which was musical; I could probably write a whole song about it. I allowed myself to space off as I planned what to say to her next, maybe I'd ask her to be co-captain with me for capture the flag...

I blinked as I realized that I had been staring at Lizzie for the past thirty seconds.

She cocked her head to the side. "Why are you staring?"

"You're just breathtaking!" I exclaimed, grinning cheekily.

She smiled, and her sea-green eyes sparkled.

"Can I confess something?" I asked smoothly.

She wiggled her eyebrows at me. "What is it?"

I leaned in. "You have the prettiest smile I've ever seen."

Of course, that made her smile.

"Can I confess something, too?" She asked conspiratorially.

"What?"

She leaned in too. "This smile only exists when I'm with you."

It was my turn to smile. Since we were already so close, I kissed her on the cheek. Hey, I'm a nice guy- I didn't want to go too fast.

"Will you go out with me, then?" I asked hopefully.

She leaned in again and kissed me on the lips.

_Woah._ So much for taking things slow.

"Just in case you didn't get it, that was a 'yes,'" she said, when we pulled away.

"Thanks for the confirmation," I teased.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I must say, for the rest of the month, it was pretty nice walking past the colosseum and seeing a huge banner with my name and picture on it. I was finally getting some acknowledgement; whenever I passed another demigod, they would smile and say something like, "Hey, you're the guy that nearly beat Percy Jackson; you guys had concussions! It's Shaw, right?" and I would just smile and nod.

Because it _is_ Shaw.

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**A/N**

**Hey everybody! Sorry for the late updates!:( I've been ridiculously busy... I was going to update this story last week, but of course I had to burn my hand so I couldn't type:P Hopefully I'll update again in a week or two!**

**CONTEST!: 75th reviewer gets the next oneshot! It has to be a legit review, and DO NOT MAKE YOUR REVIEW YOUR SUBMISSION. If you are the 75th legit reviewer, I will PM you, and you can send me your submission then. So, go forth and review!:)**

**I really hoped you liked this story!:)**

**Anyway, submissions are still accepted! The form is in chapter 1. Please include some sort of plot line, or your story will be boring as all get out! (Also, I'd prefer not to write too many more love stories- I'm running out of ideas for them!)**

**Also, check out my other story, **_**The Ring of Gyges**_**- it's about a quest with Percy Jackson, Leo Valdez, and Ena Collins, an OC I wrote about in chapter two! (Owned by Ena Daughter of Nyx)**

**So, please review! It only takes a second! Thanks for reading!:)**

**Xoxoxo,**

**EmMarie**


	14. Ozzy David Dickens: Mortal

**A/N**

**This oneshot is for XMistressChaosx, who won the 75 reviews contest! Thanks for reviewing, and thank you for being lovely and patient with me while I procrastinated! Hope you enjoy:)**

**Without further ado, here is Ozzy David Dickens...**

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**Ozzy's POV**

_What am I even doing? This is crazy! _I thought to myself for what must've been the hundredth time._ Ozzy, pull yourself together! I know you missed Myth, but this is ridiculous. Did you _really _have to kidnap the satyr?_

I nervously glanced at my captive. He was sitting with his mouth taped shut, his feet bound, and his arms tied securely behind his back. His curly hair was a mess, and the plate of half-eaten enchiladas and coke cans I had used to lure him into the car currently sat on the floor pads.

"Mmhnm, mmhnmph!" The satyr says, struggling against his bonds.

"Be quiet, will you?" I snap. I'm already on edge as it is, I don't think I can take much more noise.

Uh oh. I saw people running out through the woods towards us.

"Don't move," I warned my captive as I hopped out of the car. I received an annoyed look in response. I grabbed the keys and locked the car from the inside.

Two boys and two girls had just reached the clearing.

"Stay back!" I warned, pulling a butter knife out of the pocket of my jeans and brandishing it. I had several more in my backpack. "Come any closer, and the satyr gets it!"

What looked to be the oldest boy put his arms out to stop the group from advancing.

"What do you want with Grover?" he demanded, drawing his sword, and I could tell he knew how to use it.

What_ was _I doing with Grover?

"I need to see Myth!" I called, my voice on the edge hysteria.

The group talked amongst themselves for a second, before the boy turned back to me.

"There's no one named Myth here, you've made a mistake!" he called pleadingly. "Just let Grover go!"

I sighed and rubbed my temples, hard.

"Circe," I managed to choke out. "Her name's Circe Clio Anthony."

"Hazel, go find her," I heard the boy order, and the smallest girl took off. I must've had a ridiculously insane look in my eyes, because neither the guy with the sword nor the other blonde girl, who had just pulled out a knife, charged me.

I gripped my butter knife, trying to hold on to something- anything- that could bring me back to reality. Again, why was I doing this? Besides, what chance did I have at succeeding at this against experienced, weapon-wielding demigods? I was just a regular mortal!

Well, I guess not a _regular _mortal, since I can see through the Mist.

I just really missed Myth.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX

Trust me when I say I never meant for this to happen, but when Myth left me to go to Camp Half-Blood, well, I kind of lost it. She's my best friend, and we practically grew up together. My nickname for her, Myth, is kind of ironic. Her real name is Circe, like from the stories we used to read when we were little and loved Greek mythology, so she became Myth. Of course, they're no longer just stories; to her they're history.

_My_ nickname is Odd, because, well, I tend to be just that. I was never interested in video games or sports like other kids. For me, my random infatuations with scuba diving, microbiology, and sock puppets were enough to make me stand out. I'd get interested in one thing, then the next week forget all about it.

I'm kind of the same way with girls. One week I'll have a crush on Jessica Matthews and flirt my pride and dignity away, and the next week I've moved on to Sarah Holbrook.

Myth is the only exception to that. I've had a major crush on her since day one. She doesn't think so, but she's one of the prettiest girls I've ever met. She has cocoa colored skin and chocolatey eyes, and her dark curly hair is always so shiny. The ripped, paint-splattered jeans she likes to wear are cute in a off-beat kind of way, and she looks so good in her red and black plaid shirt that it hurts.

She's 15, a year younger than me, but it doesn't matter. I could never tell her I liked her because we're best friends, and I didn't want to risk ruining that. Now, I'm wishing I had, maybe this would have never happened...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXX

It all started a few weeks ago. I was hanging out at Myth's house while her parents were out. I played with her hair as she wrote an English essay, when there was a knock at the door.

"Come with me," Myth sighed, dragging me out of her room by the arm, "I hate answering the door by myself."

When we opened the door, we were both surprised to see a tall, tanned guy breathing heavily and leaning against the door frame.

"Are you Circe?" he panted out.

"Yes," she answered, looking at him warily.

"I've been looking everywhere for you!" he exclaimed. "I have to tell you, you're a demigod and-"

Myth slammed the door.

"Tell me when he leaves," she said, rolling her eyes and heading back to her bedroom.

I was a little startled by her rude behavior, so I opened the door again to greet the confused guy still standing there.

"Sorry about that," I apologized. "Myth doesn't like strangers."

"I'm Bahhbob," the guy introduced himself, though his name came out sounding like a bleat.

"Ozzy," I said, shaking his hand.

"Circe's a demigod," he stated pleasantly, and for a moment I considered shutting the door again.

"Like in those stories she always reads?" I asked, just to be polite.

Bob nodded. "But they're not stories, they're real."

"Okay," I nodded slowly. Then I glanced up at his hair. "Uh, dude, are those horns?"

Bob looked at me quizzically. "You're not a demigod," he stated.

"I sure hope not," I said, taking a small step back from the crazy horned guy.

"But you can see my horns?" he asked.

"Well, it's hard to miss two big horns sticking out of a guy's head," I pointed out.

"Can you see this too, then?" Bob asked, kicking off his shoes to reveal... Goat feet.

"Myytthh?" I called down the hallway once I had gotten over the shock. "You might wanna see this!"

She didn't answer, so I waved Bob inside and led him to Myth's bedroom.

"Myth, you might wanna hear what this guy has to say," I said seriously, sitting on her lap.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXX

Looking back, why didn't I just shut the door on Bob? If I had known he was going to take her away to Camp Half-Blood, I never would've let him in the house. Now I worry about her all the time. I don't usually care so much about people, but Myth is a special case. I just feel like she needs someone to look out for her.

How does kidnapping Grover help me look out for her? No idea.

"Who are you?" the older boy called out, interrupting my thoughts.

"You don't need to know!" I yelled back. "But my name's Ozzy!"

"Okay, Ozzy," the teen said. "My name is Percy. Now, look, nobody has to get hurt. Why don't you just let Grover go, and you can be on your way?"

"Why don't you just get me Myth?" I yelled back.

"She's coming," Percy said, annoyingly placatingly, "But it might be a while. I don't wanna have to hurt you, so for now why don't you just put down your weapon?"

I snorted. "Yeah, fat chance. Just come over here and face me like a man!"

Percy seemed to consider it for a moment, then he dropped his sword and started walking slowly towards me.

"Look, I just wanna talk," he said, his hands in the air where I could see them.

"Stop! Don't come any closer!" I warn, putting my hand on the door handle. "One more step, and Grober's gonna get it!"

"It's Grover!" Percy snapped, continuing towards me.

Of course, I panicked. I have pretty good aim, so I hurled the butter knife at him as hard as I could. He dodged, but it grazed his right shoulder anyway.

"What was that for?" Percy asked angrily, rubbing his shoulder. The blunt end must have hit him. "I just want to talk!"

I yanked open the truck and pulled another knife out of my backpack.

"Percy, get back here!" The blonde girl pleaded. "Just wait until Hazel brings Myth."

"Don't call her that!" I shouted furiously at her. "Only I can call her that, you idiot!"

"Hey!" Percy yelled. "Don't talk to Annabeth like that, you psycho!"

"I'm not a psycho!" I screamed, throwing another knife in his direction. He easily avoided it and turned back to join his group.

We stood, silently facing off for several long minutes, until the smaller boy called out.

"Sweet ride," he noted, nodding at the pickup. "295 horsepower, am I right?"

"Yeah," I called back, a little taken aback. "It's a Silverado."

"I know, I can see that from here," the guy said. "By the way, I'm Leo!"

"Nice to meet you, Leo," I said. Wait, this is weird. Why am I being polite to the friends of the goat I'm holding hostage? My day is just getting weirder and weirder. I sighed heavily and rubbed my temples, wishing that Myth would just get here faster.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

**Myth's POV**

I was sitting under a shady tree, just relaxing, with Nico DiAngelo. It was a pretty nice day, I guess, but I didn't want to go swimming or anything any of the stupid campers were doing. I could sit quietly with Nico though, he's the only one at camp I don't completely despise. We kind of get each other.

After being here a week, I've realized that these kids are just like everybody else. Just as annoying as regular mortals, except they have gods as parents.

I'll admit, I thought that Bob the satyr was pretty stupid when he showed up on my doorstep last week. I mean, would you believe it if a stranger showed up and told you you were a daughter of Thanatos?

Yeah, didn't think so. I'd always asked my Mom and Stepdad about my real father, but they'd always given me some vague answer. All the demigods here have similar stories, so I guess that that all worked out for the best.

I'll freely admit that camp is not my favorite place. I won't, however, admit that I miss my old life, even though I do. I miss it so much that it hurts.

Well, I guess I don't really miss my old life as a whole, I just really miss Odd. He really got me. I'd had a crush on him ever since the 4th grade, but I was sure he didn't like me back. I should've told him before I left for camp, but I've never been good with the romantic crap. It wouldn't have come out the way I wanted it to anyway.

Suddenly, a group of tolerable, but very annoying, demigods came rushing up to me. Hazel, Malcom, and Lou Ellen were practically tripping over themselves to reach me.

"Oh, thank gods we found you-"

"We've been looking everywhere-"

"He's _crazy_, and he's got Grover-"

"Woah," I said, waving my hands to stop them all from speaking at once. "I have no idea what you're saying. Malcolm, just you talk."

Malcom took a quick, deep breath. "Circe, there's a crazy guy who just drove into camp in a Chevy Silverado, and he kidnapped Grover! He's demanding to see you, he says his name's Ozzy."

My breath caught in my throat, and without meaning to I killed the ten foot circle of grass beneath me.

"Odd's here?" I repeated disbelievingly.

"Yeah, he's odd, but you need to come with us right now!" Malcolm said, mishearing me. "There's no telling what he might do!"

"I'll come with you, too," Nico said, rising from the ground and helping me up. "Let's go."

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**Ozzy's POV**

My heart jumped into my throat when I see Myth walk out of the woods towards me. She looked amazing; her dark skin glowing like cocoa, and her chocolatey eyes sparkling as usual. She had on her signature paint-splattered jeans, plaid shirt, and black chucks that I gave her for Christmas a couple years ago.

I started panicking even more when I see her unhappy expression. Does she not want to see me?

Oh gods, what if she already has a boyfriend, and doesn't want to be friends with me anymore? What if she replaced me?

I couldn't stand it anymore, and raced towards her.

"Hold it!" Percy called, pointing his sword at me. "Don't come any closer until you let Grover go!"

My heart stopped. Now that I could see Myth, I realized I hadn't thought this plan through. _What was I going to do with Grover? _

Hold on. Now that Myth's here, I can focus a little more. Did I_ really _just kidnap a satyr from a camp full of powerful, weapon-wielding demigods that would probably destroy me the second I gave up my hostage?

Bad idea.

_Very _bad idea.

_Ozzy, what have you done?!_

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**Myth's POV**

"Give me a minute!" Ozzy called from across the clearing, as he rushed back into the truck.

I recognized it. It was his mom's truck, and I've ridden in the back quite a few times. I could think of dozens of good memories I associated with it, but I had a feeling this memory would override them all.

My three least favorite people were standing beside me, trying to control the situation and obviously failing miserably. Chiron was at Olympus for the week, and had left control of the camp to Percy Jackson- a decision I strongly questioned.

"So what's the deal with Odd?" I asked Percy, frowning at him. I've never liked him. Sure, he's saved the camp, and Olympus, a few times, but I didn't see anything great in him. Being his friend wouldn't benefit me much, so I tried to keep my distance. I don't think he trusts me, but the feeling is mutual.

"You _know_ that lunatic?" Percy asked irritably.

"He's_ not _a lunatic," I say mechanically, though I admit, I questioned it at the moment.

"Then explain why he kidnapped my best friend and is holding him hostage with knives," he shot back.

I raised my eyebrows. "Knives?" I asked, knowing full well Ozzy would never hurt anyone. He's practically a pacifist, and he's always avoided conflict.

"They're butter knives," Leo explains. "They're pretty heavy. Still hurt like heck if they hit you."

I rolled my eyes at him. Leo is one of those people I don't take seriously. How could I? All he does is make stupid jokes and spend all day in that bunker of his. His friendship wouldn't benefit me either, so I stayed away. Plus, he always smelled like gasoline and fire.

"So, can I go talk to him?" I pretended to ask Percy's permission. I'm going to go no matter what he said.

"Given his unstable condition and the extreme possibility of injury on your part, I'd recommend staying away until Percy and I figure out a different plan of action," Annabeth said, and I frown at her. They way she talks, like she's so much smarter than the rest of us just because she's Athena's daughter drives me crazy. I know that being her friend would probably be a good thing, given her position in power, but I just can't bring myself to be nice to a know-it-all.

"And how long will that take?" I demanded. "You've been here for an hour already, and you haven't made any progress!"

"Well, we've collected some good scrap metal," Leo says, raising his eyebrows and holding up two butter knives.

I scowled at him and he lowered the knives.

Percy looked at Annabeth, because he clearly didn't know what to do.

"I say we get a few of the Ares kids down here, dressed in armor, and they can get Grover back safely while restraining the lunatic," Annabeth sighed.

"His name is Ozzy," I said through gritted teeth. "And that's a terrible plan."

"I'll go get Clarisse," Leo said, heading back towards camp.

"Stop," I said loudly, and I'm so upset I accidentally kill most of the grass at our feet. "Nobody is going to charge into battle against a defenseless mortal. That's the worst idea I've ever heard!"

"You have a better plan?" Annabeth challenged, her gray eyes stormy.

"I'm going to go talk to him, and don't you dare stop me," I said determinedly, marching up to the truck.

Annabeth huffed and Percy eyed me carefully.

"Good luck!" Leo called out, and I rolled my eyes at him again.

Why would I need good luck to go talk to my best friend?

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**Ozzy's POV**

"Who're those guys?" I asked suspiciously as Myth opened to door to the Silverado, glaring at the blonde and dark haired boys who arrived with Myth.

"Nobody," she said offhandedly, and I believed her. I was relieved they didn't seem to matter to her, because the blonde was probably better looking than I am, and for a moment I was sure she had replaced me. "They told me you were here, and they kind of explained the, uh, situation."

"I'm totally screwed, aren't I?" I asked despairingly. "I'm probably going to be thrown to the lions, right?"

"They haven't thrown anyone to the lions in months," she scolded, and I couldn't tell if she was kidding or not. "We'll figure something out," she added simply, and I was amazed at how calm she sounded. She pulled me into a hug, and for a moment I felt okay, too.

"Why the heck did you do this?" she half snorted and half laughed, looking at Grover and my bag of butter knives.

I shrugged, smiling ironically. "I guess I just kind of snapped when the guards said I couldn't go into camp. Then, goat-dude just happened to walk by, and before I knew it he was tied up in the back seat, munching on aluminum cans."

She smirked at me. "Well, let's let him go and try to explain this to those nitwits over there."

She made to go around to the other side of the truck, but I grabbed her hand to stop her.

"Myth, wait," I said, looking her in the eyes. "We need to think of something else. As soon as I explain, they're going to make me leave, and probably ban me from ever coming back. I know you're just going to stay here for the summer, but I don't think I could take another three months without you."

I hoped I didn't sound too cheesy, but it was the truth. I needed my best friend, and I hoped she needed me too.

She squeezed my hand, which surprised me a little. That's the most affection she ever shows, so it reassured me that we would think of a plan.

"I know what we can do," she says confidently, and I believed her. I put all my trust into that one sentence, because for some reason I think it's going to work out.

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**Myth's POV**

After we released Grover, Percy punched Odd in the face. I guessed he deserved it, but that doesn't mean I didn't kill the tree next to him and almost let it squish him.

Annabeth had called Chiron and told him about the hostage situation, but I wasn't mad at her. I needed to talk to Chiron anyway.

He was understandably annoyed with the whole situation, but we went to the Big House to explain.

"I understand that this is a special case," Chiron says, once we told the whole story, "but now I'm afraid you're going to have the leave Camp."

"This isn't a special case, what about the other campers with friends that can't see them anymore?" I asked. "I know Lou Ellen, Nyssa, and Will all have friends who are clear-sighted. They're all upset they can't come to camp!"

"Couldn't we come, just for maybe one day a week?" Ozzy asked. "Is that too much to ask? The campers are all just kids, they want to see their old friends as much as their camp friends."

"I do see your point," Chiron nodded thoughtfully. "I think we can make that work, with more than one day a week."

"Really?" I asked disbelievingly. "You're going to let mortals come to camp?"

"Only the clear-sighted ones, and only under circumstances, like these," Chiron answered. "They'll have their own cabin, and they'll attend camp activities. I've always been of the opinion that those mortals are in as much danger as any demigod, and I think they should have access to this knowledge as well."

"So, I can stay here too?" Ozzy asked, and I see his face lighting up like it does when he finds a new fossil or rock.

"Yes," Chiron nodded. "But only for the summer."

"That's okay, I won't be a year-round camper anyway!" I grinned, and it feels weird to be smiling, but I was so happy I couldn't help it. Sure, this meant that a bunch more annoying campers would come, and they would be mortals, but I could deal with them.

Ozzy smiled his cute, orange and blue braces smile and launched himself at me with a big hug.

I hugged him back, because it feels amazing to know I can spend time with my best friend again.

Even if he is Odd.

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A/N

Ooh, finally figured out where I was going with this story! Hope you liked it:)

Sorry it took forever! I'll try and update again at least once this month, but this is the spring of my junior year, and I'm an overachiever and took 12 subjects so I have a ridiculous amount of homework:(

Anyway, so yeah, now you can submit clear-sighted mortals! They now have a cabin:) The form is on chapter 1. If you submit, follow the story!:)

Also, you can check out my other Percy Jackson fics, Abandoned, The Ring of Gyges (featuring Ena Collins, chapter 2, owned by Ena Daughter of Nyx), and

Again, thanks for reading:) Please review, 100th REVIEWER GETS THE NEXT ONESHOT. Hope you liked it, see you soon!

Xoxoxo,

EmMarie


	15. Nicole E Morrison: Daughter of Hecate

**A/N**

**This oneshot is for Creshinibon, who owns Nicole Elizabeth Morrison:) I hope you enjoy!**

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Nicole hit the ground, breathing hard. She gasped as a sword swung in front of her and the tip came to rest on her throat. She frowned up at her green-eyed competitor and sighed.

"You win again," she grumbled, rolling out from underneath the blade. "That makes, what? Eight times this month?"

"Yeah, but you've gotten better each match," Percy said good-naturedly, holding out a hand to pull the 16 year old up.

Nicole took it and got to her feet. "If you say so," she said, walking across the arena to retrieve her fallen sword. It had been specially made for her by her friend James, a son of Hephaestus. She hadn't yet decided on a name for it, though. She picked up the weapon and pressed the stone set into the hilt, and the blade retracted. She tucked the hilt into her jacket and turned back to Percy.

"Think I'm ready for the tournament?" she asked brightly.

Percy grinned. "I hope Camp Jupiter's ready for the tournament."

Nicole had been training with Percy for the past six months for the first ever Demigod Olympics, which would be held a month from today, in the center of North America in Denver, Colorado. It would be a competition between Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood. There would be chariot races, power showdowns, monster-slaying, and archery, among other things, and the whole event was starting to shape up nicely. Nicole was planning on entering the girl's sword fighting competition, and she wanted nothing more than to represent Camp Half-Blood in the final match.

Nicole glanced down at her watch, strapped to her wrist next to the charm bracelet she received from her mother, Hecate.

"I've gotta go, I have a meeting with Annabeth in 15 minutes," she announced to Percy, who nodded.

"Alright, work on your stance and meet me back here tomorrow at three."

"I'll be there," Nicole promised, shouldering her backpack and exiting the arena.

She headed for her second-favorite cabin at camp: Cabin 6, the Athena cabin.

Nicole Elizabeth Morrison was a daughter of Hecate. She had been at Camp Half-Blood year round for seven years, since she was nine, and in that time she had made good friends with lots of the campers. Namely, Annabeth Chase and the other children of Athena, who shared her love of knowledge.

She knocked lightly on the door of Cabin 6.

"Come in!" someone called from the inside, probably Malcolm.

Nicole turned the knob and stepped through the door.

"Ready to go?" she asked Annabeth, who was bent over a pile of papers on a desk.

"Yeah, come on," Annabeth smiled, grabbing an armful of the papers and stuffing them into a messenger bag.

The two girls walked down to the deserted pavilion and sat at an empty chair.

"Have you sketched out the final design?" Annabeth asked, pulling pencils and graphs out of her bag.

"Right here," Nicole grinned, pulling an oversized sketch pad out of her backpack. She laid it on the table and flipped through it until she came to the right page.

"It looks perfect!" Annabeth gushed, tracing her finger over the neat lines. "Now, we have to add in the details."

Months ago, when the Demigod Olympics had first been announced, Chiron had approached Annabeth to design the Torch and arena the Olympics would be held in. Annabeth had readily agreed.

Nicole had always been interested in architecture, and she and Annabeth frequently said that Nicole should have been a daughter of Athena. Nicole was excellent at magic, but she had a love of learning that seemed out of place with the rest of the children of Hecate.

Once Annabeth had realized the enormity of the responsibility, she had recruited a few other demigods to help her with the process. She and Nicole had gotten together to brainstorm ideas for the arena, and had finally decided on a classic layout, with a few modern twists.

The sketch they were looking at was a classic colosseum, with Greek and Roman style columns interspersed, and sections of the arena separated off for different events. The logo for the Demigod Olympics would be painted on the floor of the stadium; a Greek temple with a lightning bolt through it, surrounded by twelve orange and purple stars to represent the gods.

The Torch would be placed in the center, and Nicole had left a place for that. The exact design of the Torch was known only to Annabeth, since she wanted to keep it a surprise for everyone.

"You saved a place for the marble statues, right?" Annabeth asked.

"Right here," Nicole pointed to an alcove. For some reason, Annabeth insisted on having three statues of Zeus, Poseidon, and Hephaestus in the arena. Nicole found the request odd, but didn't question it.

"Great. Now, I think we should make the jumbo screen a few feet wider," Annabeth said, tapping her lip with her pencil. "It'd seem more impressive."

Nicole erased a few lines and brought out a ruler to widen the screen.

"How's that?"

"Better," Annabeth grinned. "And how's the obstacle course coming along?"

"Swimmingly," Nicole smiled, flipping to another page.

The main responsibility Annabeth had given her was to design the Extreme Obstacle Course, which was to be an event in the Olympics. Nicole was very proud of how it had turned out. She had designed a river that flowed across the entire length of it, swinging maces that needed to be dodged, an underground tunnel with trap doors and lava, and her favorite; The Pit.

It was a rectangular, metal pit, which the demigods would need to zip line across (while dodging arrows). The pit had a floor that could be raised up, so demigods had the choice of zip-lining and facing the arrows, or simply walking across. The trick was, no one knew how long the floor would be raised for. You could be halfway across, and it could suddenly drop you down to the bottom of the pit, and you were disqualified.

Most of the elements, such as the lava, the arrows, and the floor of the entire pit, would be controlled using a control panel, which Nicole had also designed. She was in charge of running the obstacle course event, so she would be behind the controls. She had designed it so that only she could operate it, to make sure there was no chance of cheating. Only her touch would start the control box, and anyone else who tried to mess with it received a nasty shock.

"This looks incredible," Annabeth gushed. "You've really got a nice layout. I wish you had been a child of Athena, too. This design is almost exactly how I would've planned it!"

"I'm sure you could have done a better job, but thanks," Nicole grinned. "How's the Torch design coming?"

"That's classified information," Annabeth reminded her. "But it's coming along great. I can't wait for everyone to see it!"

"I know it'll be spectacular," Nicole smiled. "Now, how are we going to lay out the chariot-racing track?"

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Once the two girls had finished most of their plans, Nicole headed off to Archery class.

"Nicole, come quick!" someone suddenly exclaimed, grabbing her arm.

She quickly whirled around to face Travis Stoll.

"Where's the fire?" she asked, as usual. Ever since the Stoll brothers had tried to prank her the first year she arrived at camp and she had turned the prank on them, they had been trying to get her back. She learned to ignore them, (most of the time), and learned not to trust them as far as she could throw them, (all the time).

"Connor just fell into the river, you've gotta help me get him out!" Travis said desperately, pulling her towards the woods, and Nicole snorted.

"Really? That's the best you've got?" she giggled, turning away. "I've heard that from you six times this year."

Travis's worried expression was replaced with confusion. "Really? I thought it was Lou Ellen we tried this on."

"Ha! So it _is_ a trap!" Nicole exclaimed triumphantly, smirking at him. Then she turned to the forest and called, "Connor, come out come out wherever you are! You can put the whipped cream down, or the water, or whatever you were planning to throw on me!"

"Aw, Travis, you ruined it!" Connor complained, dropping down from a tree, carrying a five-gallon bucket of glitter.

"You know, I'm almost sad I didn't get the glitter shower," Nicole laughed. "It would've been pretty!"

"Not when it comes after the glue shower," Connor said, pointing his thumb towards another bucket still up in the tree.

Nicole rolled her eyes. "Better luck next time, boys!" she called over her shoulder as she walked away.

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It was the opening night of the Demigod Olympics.

Both camps had set up tents around the huge arena in the Rocky Mountains of Denver, Colorado, and had gathered together inside the massive building.

Chiron had appeared to say a few words.

"Young demigods," he began, his face appearing on the jumbo screen. Nicole thought to herself that Annabeth was right, and was glad they had made it bigger. "We are all gathered today for one reason. We are competing together in the spirit of friendship, and I wish each and every one of you the best in these coming days. Without further ado, Ms. Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, Head Counselor at Camp Half-Blood, will now light the ceremonial Torch!"

Chiron stepped away from the microphone, and Annabeth stood up and walked to the center of the arena, where there were three holes in the ground.

She nodded at a few people sitting in the front row, and Leo, Percy, and Jason joined Annabeth in the center. The three boys each stood in front of one of the holes in the floor of the arena.

Annabeth nodded to the nymph orchestra, and they started playing the Demigod Olympics theme.

Percy, Jason, and Leo, all raised their arms, and all at once, steady streams of fire, lightning, and water shot up, intertwining with one another until the incredible pillar was 100 feet tall.

Then, the three elements started swirling at the top, to create a massive bowl. Blue flames collected in the bowl, and the three demigods stepped back. The torch stayed that way, even when the boys took their seats again.

Nicole couldn't remember ever seeing something so amazing.

"Let the Games begin!" Annabeth proudly announced into the microphone, the blaze of colors swirling behind her and looking fantastic on the jumbo screen.

Once the ceremony had concluded, Nicole made her way through the sea of demigods to catch up with Annabeth.

"Annabeth, I'm speechless!" she exclaimed, rushing up to her friend. "How is the torch staying up like that?"

Annabeth laughed. "I actually had to go up to Olympus and ask Zeus, Poseidon, and Hephaestus is they would sustain the torch throughout the Games. They actually agreed to!"

"Just like that?" Nicole asked in amazement.

"Actually, no," Annabeth made a face. "My mom had to step in. There was a shouting match, and things were about to turn ugly, but Ares finally yelled at them to shut up, and told them they had to represent their kids, and they agreed to. Oh, and I had to promise them each a statue," she rolled her eyes.

"Ah, I was wondering about those," Nicole grinned, glancing at the three statues off to the side of the arena.

"There you go," Annabeth nodded. "Well, good luck with the first round of sword fighting! I know you'll do great."

"Thanks," Nicole smiled. "Good luck with the war games!"

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The first round of sword fighting in the girls 15-16 year old division was first thing the next morning. Nicole went several rounds without losing, making it past the first sudden death elimination. The next matches would be held the following afternoon.

Her friends, Annabeth, Lou Ellen, Malcom, Percy, and Leo had all been there to cheer her on from the sidelines.

Nicole was tired from her last round, and was going back to her tent to catch up on her sleep when she was suddenly stopped by Travis Stoll calling her name.

"Nicole!" he shouted, nearly tripping over himself in order to catch up with her.

"Where's the fire?" she asked him, frowning.

"Annabeth wants to see you, right away," Travis said, his eyes as innocent as he could make them.

"What for?" Nicole asked, already suspicious.

"I dunno, to discuss stuff, I guess," Travis shrugged. "She said to come quickly. She's at the pegasi stables."

"Oh, really?" Nicole asked. "Then how did I just say goodbye to her at the arena?"

Travis's face paled.

"And, is that shaving cream on your shirt?" she pointed out, and Travis immediately wiped it away. "Better luck next time," she winked, walking away as Travis pouted.

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The whole week, the competitions went on, Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter winning an almost equal amount of competitions.

The first event, the Extreme Obstacle Course, went to Camp Half-Blood. The next event, the foot races, were won by a member of the First Cohort, from Camp Jupiter. Camp Half-Blood won the chariot race and the tug-of-war, while Camp Jupiter won the archery competition and the basketball tournament.

The Torch burned brightly the entire time.

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Nicole easily passed the next few rounds of sword fighting, but the semi-final match was difficult for her. She only won it because the other girl, a daughter of Ceres, was disqualified for using her powers and growing thorns around Nicole's feet to try to gain an advantage. No powers or magic items were allowed in the sword competitions; contestants had to win on their own merit, without other help.

Nicole had been a little disappointed when she had found out about that rule, since she had practiced a few good shielding charms, but no matter. She felt confident enough that she could win without using her daughter-of-Hecate powers, which would be put to the test during the championship match the following evening.

Others from Camp Half-Blood moving on in other divisions of sword fighting were Percy Jackson, Shaw Henderson, Jacob Miles, and Charlotte Davis.

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It was the final night of the Games, and the final round of championship matches.

Nicole was in the back room of the arena, waiting for her name to be announced. Whoever won this would be the gold medalist.

She was taking deep breaths, trying to focus on what she needed to do, when her concentration was suddenly interrupted.

"Nicole, come quick!" Travis appeared out of nowhere, and he grabbed her arm.

"Where's the fire?" she sighed.

"No, I'm serious," Travis said desperately, and Nicole heard an unfamiliar edge. "It's Travis- he's hurt and he needs help!"

Nicole stared closely at the boy she thought was Travis. Suddenly, she noticed the subtle difference, the small birthmark on his forehead, that was usually covered by his curly hair. The boy before her was definitely Connor.

Nicole found it strange that Connor would be the one trying to trick her. He was usually a terrible actor, which was why Travis had always been the one to rush up to her and set up the prank.

"Connor, I'm about to go to the final match!" Nicole snapped. "Bad timing. Try it later," she said, turning away from him.

"Nicole, I'm serious. You have to help me! You're the only one who can work The Pit! He's stuck down there," Connor pleaded.

"You mean the obstacle course pit?" Nicole asked. The pit had onlt been used for one event, the Extreme Obstacle Course, but now that that was over, the pit held...

Suddenly, Nicole noticed the fresh blisters on Connor's hands.

"Did you burn yourself?" she asked worriedly, gently grabbing his wrist to examine the wounds.

"Yes, your control machine zapped me! This is for real, we're not trying to prank you," Connor exclaimed. "Travis fell into the pit and landed on all the junk down there. He's hurt, and I need you to help get him out of there!"

"Connor, I swear to Zeus, if you're lying to me," she threatened, but he cut her off.

"I'm serious," he insisted again. "Come on!"

Connor grabbed her by the arm, and they raced to the obstacle course. As the ran, Nicole heard her name being announced over the loudspeaker, and she was tempted to go back and fight the match. Not showing up would mean forfeiting, and she would lose the tournament.

All the disappointment and regret melted away, however, when she saw Travis Stoll lying unconscious at the bottom of the obstacle course pit. Since it was no longer in use, the maintenance crew had decided to dump all the hazardous items in it, such as extra barbed wire, maces, bricks, and broken glass. They had figured that once the games were over, they could simply fill in the pit and dispose of everything, but they hadn't counted on this.

"Sorry to drag you away from the tournament, but I didn't know what else to do!" Connor apologized, but Nicole scoffed and shook her head.

"You think the stupid tournament is more important than my friends?" she asked, and Connor gave her a small smile.

"Travis!" Nicole called down the pit, but he didn't respond.

"He's unconscious, you need to raise the floor up," Connor said, and Nicole went over to the control panel she had designed. It whirred to life the moment she touched it, and she quickly raised the lever. She used a bit of magic to raise the floor quicker, and within seconds Travis was at ground level.

"Be careful!" Nicole stopped Connor before he could rush to his brother's side. "I'll go, that stuff is dangerous."

Nicole rushed out from behind the control panel and carefully climbed onto the mountain of junk. Travis was almost directly in the center of it all, and she slowly made her way towards him.

She could see now that he had hit his head on a brick, hence the passing out. He had gotten tangled up in a length of barbed wire, so Nicole quickly drew her sword.

She whispered a spell for fire, and immediately the blade of her sword grew white-hot. She used it to melt through the wire and safely pulled it all away from Travis.

Then, she used more magic to levitate Travis a few feet off the ground. She clambered down from the pile and floated Travis down, and set him by his brother's feet.

"I'll go get help," Nicole said, running back to the arena.

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"I'm really sorry you missed your final match," Travis said a few hours later, when he finally came to and was lying on a cot in the infirmary.

"It's fine," Nicole waved him off. "I'm just glad you're alright."

The two of them were sitting alone in the infirmary. Connor had rushed off about an hour ago, taking Nicole's sword with him.

While Travis was still unconscious, Connor had explained what had happened to him. Apparently, the two of then were going to play a prank on Nicole, one involving blue hair dye and a herd of pegasi, but when Travis passed the zip line, he couldn't pass up the chance to try it.

His hands slipped, and the next thing Connor knew, his brother was lying at the bottom of the pit.

Suddenly, the flap of the infirmary tent opened.

"Hey, so you're a hero," Annabeth said with a laugh, stepping into the room. She's followed by Percy, Connor, and James, Nicole's friend, a son of Hephaestus.

Nicole smiled. "I wouldn't say that. Technically, I'm a loser, since Camp Jupiter won the sword-fighting match."

"That's not what_ I'd _say," Percy smiled. "Because_ I _won the guy's division against Camp Jupiter, and this is for you."

Percy took the gleaming gold medal from around his neck and placed it over Nicole.

"I can't take this-" she protested, but Percy cut her off.

"You've earned it," he said. "All those months of training? Your opponent would've have stood a chance, anyway. After all, you learned from the best."

Nicole looked down at the medal and smiled. "Thanks, Percy. It really means a lot."

"I got you something, too," Connor spoke up. "Well, James and I did. Since you've done a great deed with your sword, cutting Travis out and all, it gets a name," he grinned. "I picked it out, and James engraved it real quick."

James held out Nicole's sword, and she took it incredulously.

"We all agreed it was appropriate," Annabeth nodded, still smiling.

The inscription was lettered in Ancient Greek along the hilt. The gold lettering clearly stood out, reading "_Αφοσίωση_."

_Loyalty._

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**A/N**

**Wow, you guys must be pretty special- back to back updates! ;) **

**Anyway, thanks for all the reviews, I really appreciate them!:) Submissions are still accepted, the form is on Chapter 1, but keep in mind I already have a bunch, so make sure yours stand out!**

**Thanks for reading, please review, since I wrote this just for you all:)**

**Xoxoxo,**

**EmMarie**


	16. Ignatius Jones: Son of Aeternitas

**A/N**

**This oneshot is for Ood Sigma, who owns Ignatius Jones!**

**Warning: Another tragic story: Not gonna lie, this is pretty sad and tragic. There's a little bit of blood and stuff, but not that much, and four deaths. (Technically only two, and only three are described)**

**So, without further ado, I present to you Ignatius Jones, son of Aeternitas, and the tale of Castor's fate...**

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I'm not sure if I'm on the right side of the river.

We've set up camp for the night, and we're all waiting for morning so we can attack Manhattan. I'm on watch, but I silently feel that's it's unnecessary; Camp Half-Blood is too weak to attack us. I'm sure they're going to go more on defense than offense, so I don't think we have anything to worry about tonight.

Still, it's quiet, unnervingly so, and I grip the hilt of my sword, _Evigheten_, "Eternity" in Norse. I'm on edge, and I keep imagining noises.

I'm over-analyzing everything because this is all new to me.

This lifetime around, I've chosen a different path.

It seems every time I've fought in a war, it's because I believed in the cause. In the Civil War, I was on the Confederate side, and even though we, the Romans, lost, I still believed in the cause. Before that, I took place in the Crusades because I thought the Holy Land needed to be freed. Then, before that, I'd been a Viking, and a pirate, because I was of the opinion that each man could conquer places, and gain riches for himself.

This war, that we're already calling The Titan War, is the first one I'm fighting that I don't believe in.

Don't get me wrong; I _totally_ support the cause. I fully believe what the Titans have argued; that the Gods are corrupt, selfish, and petty, and they need to go down. I just don't agree with the _way_ the Titans plan to carry out the mission of destroying the Gods. Killing their demigod children in a futile battle doesn't seem like the most effective way to go. They're far outnumbered, and the war should be over in a matter of hours.

Are you confused about me? I thought you might be. Let me explain. I am the semi-immortal son of Aeternitas, goddess of eternity, and I have lived hundreds of years and around half a dozen lives. Evelyna, my twin sister, has shared most of these experiences with me.

We're fourteen years into this period of rebirth, and we have around four-hundred eighty-four years left in this life. Every five-hundred years or so, we burst into flames and are reborn from the ashes into new lives, like the symbol of our mother; the Phoenix.

We had been training with Lupa at the Wolf House, when Kronos's minions came to recruit us to the cause. They told us we would be very valuable to their side, since we're semi-immortal, and Kronos wanted supporters that would last as long was he would.

This is Evelyna's first war, and I've been impressed. She's been training hard, and her swordsmanship skills are quite impressive. She's really taken to the fighting, and war seems second-nature to her. We trained separately at the Wolf House, and the first time I saw her in combat I was kind of shocked at how vehemently she swings her sword.

I glance over at the tent she's staying in. I hope she gets a good night's sleep; she's going to need all the energy she can get for tomorrow's first battle. She confessed to me only an hour ago that she didn't think she'd be able to sleep; the prospect of the war and battles was far too exciting for her.

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We're standing on the edge of the river, about to charge into battle across the bridge. Kronos has given each demigod a specific job to do, and I report to him the first thing that morning.

"What is my assignment, Lord Kronos?" I ask, after bowing low.

"Your mission is Castor, son of Dionysus," Kronos tells me, and his voice send chills up my spine.

"Which one is he?" I ask, scanning the enemy crowd.

Kronos raises his finger and points towards a set of identical twins standing off to the side, both with curly blonde hair and matching armor.

"Separate him from Pollux, his brother," Kronos instructs. "He will be easier to eliminate that way."

"Yes, sir," I say, feeling only a small amount of sickness at what I am about to do. I can't imagine being separated from my own twin in that way, but it seems the war has changed all of us, and I don't hesitate to head towards them.

Evelyna appears by my side.

"Lord Kronos told me to go with you," she tells me excitedly. "I'm to defeat Pollux after this."

I nod, feeling slightly better knowing that the twins won't be separated for long.

Castor and Pollux charge towards us, crossing more than half the bridge. We meet about three-quarters of the way towards our side, and Castor and I immediately clash swords.

Evelyna manages to lure Pollux away from his brother, and I see how she did it as I watch Pollux being chased by a hellhound. He quickly disappears in the streets of New York City.

Evelyna appears by my side soon after, as Castor and I continue to fight.

I stab; he parries. He slashes; I sidestep.

On and on, back and forth we go. Our anger seems to be fueling us both.

"Traitor!" Castor yells at me, taking another swipe at me.

"Puppet!" Evelyna shouts back, before I can respond. "Don't you see, the gods are just using you?"

_"You're_ the ones being used!" Castor counters. "The Titans are evil!"

Suddenly, Castor turns his sword on Evelyna. She barely has time to draw her own as she blocks his unexpected attack.

A fire sparks in me_. Nobody _touches my sister.

I let out a shout as I rush towards Castor, my enemy, and raise my sword above my head, ready to finish him off. He raises his sword as well, so quickly I barely see it. He pulls his sword away, and I think how lucky I am he hadn't hit me.

Suddenly, everything stops

Evelyna screams my name, but I can't imagine why. I turn to face her, and she's staring at me in shock. I look down at myself in confusion, and my brow furrows.

_Didn't my shirt used to be white?_

Suddenly, it hits me. An intense, stabbing pain, and I realize Castor_ had _hit me.

He had stabbed me in the chest, to be exact.

_Evigheten_ clatters out of my hand as I drop to my knees, clutching at the wound that is steadily gushing blood, feeling like my soul is pouring out with it. I've felt like this before- only five times in my lives, in fact.

_I'm dying._

Evelyna must feel it, too, because we lock eyes and seem to share the message.

She furiously turns on Castor, and viciously slashes at him with her sword.

My body starts burning up, and by that I meanliterally _burning_. Flames engulf me, and I take my last breath as Ignatius Jones.

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.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Suddenly, the flames start to die out, but the scene in front of me is the same.

_What? Why wasn't I reborn into a new body? Why am I still here?_

I see my mother, Aeternitas, standing in front of me, and everything else around me freezes. Castor has his sword raised against Evelyna, but there's nothing I can do to help right now.

"You will not be reborn as a new person," Aeternitas says softly, blowing the flames out.

"Wh-why not?" I ask, as I feel my ashen body re-forming. Strangely, it's still the body of Ignatius Jones; the tall, fifteen year old, brown-haired, amber eyed demigod.

"I believe in this war," my mother states. "The Titans cannot afford to lose you just yet. I am making an exception for you."

"But_ I _don't believe in this war," I protest, and suddenly my body stops reforming.

_"Do you want to end permanently?" _Aeternitas threatens, and I feel my form start to crumble. "Kronos needs you!"

"No!" I protest quickly. Suddenly, I realize that I _was_ on the wrong side of the river last night. I'm suddenly struck by how cruel the side I've chosen is. Castor is right. _We're_ the puppets, not them. The demigods on the Gods' side are all volunteers; nobody is being forced to fight. Not like us.

I make up my mind quickly.

"Please, let me stay. I'll fight," I assure her, another plan forming in my mind. I'll just get killed again and not have to reform until this war is over and the other side has hopefully won. They deserve to. Those demigods may be defending pathetic, corrupt, loser Gods, but no kingdom should be ruled by fear, threats, and pain.

My body continues forming, and my mother's eyes lose most of their anger.

"Good son," she says, slowly fading as the rest of the world starts to resume. "Make the Titans proud. Win for us."

I nod, not wanting to speak and lie to a goddess by saying that I would fight well.

With a jolt, I arrive back in the world of the living. I quickly snatch up my sword and use it to knock Castor's away from Evelyn.

He turns towards me in shock.

"How did you?" he gasps, seeing me looking healthy as ever, my body completely new, without a scar or drop of blood on me.

He quickly recovers, and swipes at me with his sword.

I don't want to fight anymore, so I decide to block and parry until he thinks he's won, then I'll grab Evelyna and retreat.

That doesn't work.

My long sword is held straight out in front of me, ready to block any side strikes, when I see Evelyna sneakily creep up behind Castor.

My jaw drops slightly, and I try to shake my head at her. _No, we don't want to win this one, Evie. Don't do it._

I don't have time to move my sword.

She ignores me, and shoves Castor right onto my blade, impaling him through the chest.

He gasps sharply, and Evelyna grabs his shoulder and yanks him backwards off my sword. If he had a chance before she did that, now she's sealed the deed. Rule number one of first aid: you _never_ pull a sword out of someone, it's a sure way to make them bleed to death.

"Evelyna!" I shout angrily at her, as Castor crumples to the ground. "Why did you do that?"

She looks shocked. "Didn't you want to win?"

"Not this one," I say, dropping to my knees besides Castor.

He's already drenched in blood, and I know he's too far gone to save. My sword had likely pierced one of his lungs, causing it to collapse, because blood is bubbling out of his mouth. I don't have any ambrosia or nectar with me, so there's no chance of saving him.

"I'm so sorry," I choke out, when I see he's still alive, though just barely. "I didn't want this. I decided to change. I wanted the Titans to lose. Oh, _no..."_

He stares up at me with violet eyes and shakes his head. I don't know what he means to say, but he doesn't look angry.

His purple eyes widen, and he starts gasping. I pull him onto my lap, and start talking to him in a low voice.

"What are you doing?" Evelyna spits out. "Let's get out of here!"

I completely ignore her; in fact, I hardly hear her. I keep talking to Castor, not even knowing what I'm saying. All I know is, _nobody_ should be alone when they die-_ especially _not someone who wasn't supposed to die. He seems calmer somehow, and he keeps eye contact, so I know he's listening.

He suddenly starts gasping again, and his whole body starts shaking. I know full well the pain he's in, since I died the same way only minutes before. I grab for his blood-covered hand, and he grips mine so tightly it hurts.

"I'm so sorry," I whisper again, my heart crumpling. "I didn't want this. I'm sorry."

He coughs raggedly, and a mouthful of blood spurts out. This time he nods to me, eyes still wide, and after coughing a few more times, shudders violently.

Then, his hand slides out of mine and Castor lays still.

"What a waste of time!" Evelyna scoffs. "Could he have diedany _slower?"_

I gently lay him flat and close his eyes.

Then, I stand up and walk up to my sister.

"You spent enough time with that loser," she rolls her eyes. "Come on, lets go do something usefu-"

I shove her to the ground.

"I hope we never see each other again," I say vehemently, but my words don't seem to have any effect as I glare down at her.

"So do I," she says coolly, picking herself up. "I'm going to go report you to Kronos."

"Please," I dare her.

She picks up her sword and walks away. I might have imagined it, but I think she wipes her arm across her eyes as she storms off.

I glance once more at Castor's body, then head for a large group of fifty telekhines.

I'm supposed to be on their side, so they don't start attacking me until I've destroyed six of them.

Then, they start throwing balls of fire, but I'm used to that. I ignore the burning flames as I whirl around, destroying more and more of my "allies."

I doubt my mother will allow me to be reborn after this. It will be seen by her as a treacherous act, and I know these are my last moments on earth

I fight harder and with more energy than I've ever fought in my life, and by the time I'm on my knees, dying for the second time that day, there are only five monsters left. I hope that helps the demigods in Manhattan; just a few less enemies they'll have to face.

I collapse to the ground.

_I hope they win_, is my last prayer and final thought.

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Time passes quickly in the Underworld. From a girl named Silena, I hear the war is going well for the Gods' side. Soon after, a boy named Nico tells me that the Titans have been defeated.

I pass Evelyna in a line, but she looks away. I can't help but wonder how she got here, but I can't bring myself to ask.

I must have waited days, but it seems like minutes before I am judged.

I face the fates. There's much arguing, but they deem me a hero.

As I step through the gates of Elysium, I'm searching for only one person. My eyes quickly spot him, and I rush over to the blonde teen.

He seems to recognize me immediately.

Castor doesn't hesitate to pull me into a hug. "I knew you'd be here," he says.

"I'm sorry," I say to him, the last words he ever heard in life.

"Think nothing of it," he says. "If you're here, you're a hero. I don't blame you for anything."

We sit on a grassy hill and talk about our lives. I still apologize every few minutes, but he always waves me off.

It's incredible in Elysium. It doesn't quite make me sad to think that I'll never see Evelyna again, but I know I'm not happy about it either.

I know I did the right thing when, what must be years later, another demigod appears. Much older, but the resemblance between him and Castor is strikingly definite. Pollux hugs his twin, and I drift off to leave the two of them to spend eternity catching up.

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**A/N**

**Oh dang... As soon I finished this, I went back and read that Castor died in the Battle of the Labyrinth, not The Last Olympian... **_**Facepalm**_**. Oh well. Can we pretty please pretend he died in the Titan War? Pretty please?**

**Anyway, this was surprisingly easy to write:) I just stayed up late one night, the words flowed out, and BOOM, 3,000 words! It was hard for me to kill Castor, though, so leave some feedback on his death scene, if you would. :(**

**Thanks for reading!:) I hope you guys liked it! (Even though it was sort of depressing!)**

**Submissions still accepted; PM me the form in Chapter 1.**

**Please review. 100th legit reviewer gets the next Oneshot!**

**Xoxoxo,**

**EmMarie**

**Edit: I said LEGIT reviewer, no one-sentence "did I win?" reviews if you want to win!**


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